The Real Angel in Hell
by erik's musical angel
Summary: Madeline is a regular phangirl like you and me. She has normal friends, a normal family, and a somewhat normal life, but an extraordinary voice. All of that changes when she is kidnapped by... Well, you'll find out. Mash up of Kay/Webber/Leroux phantoms. Rated M for rape, sexual scene, adult themes, language, and some violence.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, this is my first ever fanfic (woo hoo!) and I'm sorry if sucks. I swear not all of the chapters will be this long. The only reason this is so long is because I really didn't want to break this up into more than one chapter. This chapter is very very very very very gushy, but the rest of the story will be very sad and tragic. That's why I had to get my gushiness out in this chapter because there will be pretty much no gushiness until the end of the story (maybe...). Anyway, I hope you like it and please review!**

"WAKE UP, MADELINE!" was the first thing I heard that morning.

"_C'est le matin_?" I groaned as I rolled over to face the blinding morning sunlight that shone through the windows. My best friend and former dorm mate, Katie, and I were on a post-graduation trip in France with a group of friends from college.

"What did you say?" Katie asked with a look of utter confusion on her face.

"'_C'est le matin?' _means 'It's morning?' in French, dummy" I teased as I playfully threw my pillow at her head.

"Well, I'm sorry, miss fluent-in-three-languages" she giggled as she threw the pillow back at me.

I crawled out of bed and stretched, "So, what are we supposed to do today?"

"I'm surprised that you don't know. We're going on a tour of the Garnier Opera House!" I smiled widely, ran to my suitcase, and picked out my favorite outfit. I brushed and styled my thick blonde hair and applied my makeup until it was absolutely perfect. When I was done, Katie looked over my outfit and said "You, my friend, are terribly obsessed with this whole 'Phantom' thing."

"Come on, you would do the same thing if you were around tardis-land or whatever" I said punching her arm jokingly.

"You're right," she said, "If you tolerate my Dr. Who obsession, then I guess I can tolerate your 'Phantom' thing."

I laughed, "Let's go downstairs and wait for the rest of the group."

~oOo~

A few hours later, we were touring the opera house. I was too awe-struck to listen to the tour guide. The inside of the opera house was so glorious! I kept fidgeting and twisting my hair subconsciously.

"Would you stop that already? You look fine!" Katie said, swatting at my hands to get me to stop.

"Sorry. It's just that young beautiful sopranos tend to get 'mysteriously carried away' around here."

"Well, you are gorgeous, young, and you have the most beautiful voice I've ever heard," my boyfriend Chris said as he surprised me and picked me up from behind.

I giggled. "Awww, Chris, thank you," I said as he put me back down on the ground. I kissed his cheek and he blushed.

"Uh, I'll leave you two alone," Katie said awkwardly and joined a cluster of girls at the front of the group.

Chris slid a hand around waist and we continued the tour, occasionally talking to each other about amazing the opera house is.

A few minutes later, our lovely moment of public intimacy was interrupted when Chris' best friend, Mitchell, yelled, "Hey, lover boy, get over here!"

Both Chris and I rolled our eyes and sighed. Then, Chris did something that I wasn't expecting. He turned around, still holding my waist, and yelled back, "Nah, dude. I'm going to stay with my girl."

"Come on, man. Remember 'bros before hoes'? Not that I'm calling your girlfriend a hoe or anything…"

Before Chris could respond, I said, "It's fine, Chris. Go hang out with him. We both need to spend more time with our friends so that we don't lose them."

He lowered his voice to a whisper and took both my hands in his, "Fine, my love, but I need to talk to you about something over dinner tonight. I've made private reservations at the best restaurant in Paris."

I smiled and blushed slightly, "Ooooh, where?"

"Let's just say that it has an amazing view," he said. He kissed me and left to join his friends.

After he joined his friends, I skipped over to Katie, smiling widely. "Well, someone's a little happy." She said, noticing my ecstatic expression.

"What makes you think that?" I said, still smiling like crazy.

"You just skipped through a crowd of bored people like they were a field of daisies and I could use a car to measure how big your smile is right now," she said, "Plus you were just with Chris… so what's going on in love-land?"

"He told me that he needs to talk to me over dinner tonight. It sounded important. He made reservations at the best restaurant in Paris!"

"Ooooh, I see," she said smirking and nodding.

"What?"

"He's going to propose to you, silly!"

I blushed, "I doubt it. We haven't been going out for that long."

"Oh yeah, 3 years 4months and 27 days certainly isn't 'that long'" she said sarcastically.

"How did you know how long we've been together?"

"How could I _not_ know? You too are always cooing to each other about how long you've been dating. And he gives you roses and sometimes chocolates on your anniversary! It's disgustingly, but adorably, gushy." I blushed again. "Admit it, Madeline. You know better than I do that he's going to ask you to marry him."

"I don't want to jinx it."

"But you think he will?" I nodded hesitantly. I didn't really think he would, but I knew Katie wouldn't stop nagging me until I agreed. She hugged me, "I'm so happy for you."

We finally turned our attention to the tour. Towards the end of the tour, the tour guide stopped at the end of a hall of dressing rooms. "…The room on your right is supposedly 'Christine Daaé's' dressing room." The tour guide said.

I gasped slightly and sneakily took a picture of the door with my phone. The room was strictly off-limits to the public, but I couldn't help thinking that maybe I could break into it later. Surely they wouldn't put a high-tech security system in there and disturb such an important room, would they?

~oOo~

A few hours later I was rummaging through my clothes, trying to pick out the perfect dress. Katie sat on her bed, watching me, silently waiting for me to ask for her help. I collapsed on the floor, "It's hopeless," I sobbed, "I have nothing to wear!"

Katie pulled me onto my bed and gave me a box of tissues. She let me cry for a few minutes, before finally growing annoyed with my emotional outburst. "Are you hungry? You always get emotional and angry when you're hungry," she asked with a hint of frustration in her tone.

"I'm not hungry," I spat out angrily.

"I'll take that as 'get me something covered in chocolate before I murder you'" she said calmly and she left the room. She returned with Snickers bar and waved it front of my face. I reluctantly snatched it from her hand, unwrapped the candy bar, and began to eat it. I was still crying a little after I ate it. "Alright, this is ridiculous. You've got to pull yourself together!" she said and she slapped me across my cheek.

"Ouch!" I said rubbing my cheek. My tears were stopping now.

"Sorry, but at least you've got some color in your cheeks now," she said as she looked through my clothes," Wow; you really don't have anything to wear in here. I think I might have something you can borrow." She walked over to her closet and immediately pulled out a dress, "Here's something."

I looked at the dress, "Um… It's very pretty, but, uh, it's a bit too short for my taste… and a bit too, erm, sexy." I said awkwardly.

"Come on, hon, don't be such a goody-two-shoes for once. If he wants you to marry him, then he wants you in his bed too."

"That may be true, but Chris and I have morals. Besides, Chris fell in love with _me_ and that dress is not '_me_'."

She groaned," Fine, I guess I can't force you to wear this." She began to search for something else for me to wear. After another minute or two, she pulled out another dress. "Does this fit your 'morals'?"

I gasped at the beauty of the dress, "Yes, it's beautiful!" I grabbed the dress and went to the bathroom to try it on. It was a pale yellow dress with white lace covering it. I admired the dress in the mirror and then came out to show Katie.

"Gorgeous! It's very flattering on you," she said, "It's never looked good on me. You can keep it if you want to."

I smiled and said, "Thank you, Katie! That's very kind of you." Then I returned to the restroom and fixed my hair and makeup.

A few minutes later, I came out and spun around to show Katie the complete outfit. "What do you think?" I said before I finished spinning.

"I think you look like the most beautiful woman in the entire world," said Chris.

Chris! I hadn't noticed that he had come in. I blushed, half from embarrassment and half from the sweet comment. "Oh, Chris! I didn't know you were here."

"No dip, Sherlock." Katie said. I looked over at her and noticed that she was smiling widely. I looked over at Chris and noticed that he was wearing the same kind of smile. They were definitely hiding something from me. I knew Chris was being secretive, but what was Katie keeping from me? I decided not to ask; guessing that I would find out later.

"Are you ready to go, sweetheart?" Chris said extending his hand to me.

I realized I had been staring at them blankly for a few seconds, so I blushed awkwardly. "Oh, right. Um, yeah, j-just let me get my purse," I stuttered. I grabbed my purse off of my bed and took his hand in mine. I smiled up at him as we walked out of the room.

"Bye, you two gushy love birds," Katie said and she closed the door after us.

As soon as the door closed, Chris grabbed my waist in both of his hands and pulled me close to him for a kiss. I smirked, "Somebody can't keep his hands off of me."

"How can I?" he said as he kissed my cheek and removed one hand from my waist. We began to walk down to the hotel lobby. "Are you alright, darling? Your eyes are a bit red and puffy like you were crying."

"Oh, I'm fine. You know how I get when I'm hungry; emotional outbursts and grumpiness. Katie brought me a snack, though, so I'm ok now."

He smiled, "Ah, I see. I'm glad that you're not upset. I hate to see you when you're unhappy."

"When have I ever been unhappy around you?" I asked.

"When you're hungry!" he laughed. "You don't know how many times I've had to bring you some food quickly so that you didn't have an emotional breakdown."

I laughed. "Well, I'm glad that you care so much." I said and kissed his cheek.

By this point, we had just left the hotel. He stopped and turned to face me. "The place I'm taking you to is a surprise, and if you read the signs, you will figure out where we're going. So..." he pulled out a blindfold from his back pocket.

I laughed. "Ok, but don't mess up my hair. I spent a lot of time on it for you," I joked.

He smiled and carefully tied the blindfold around my head, engulfing my eyes in darkness. He must've held up his fingers in front of the blindfold, because he asked, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"I don't know," I said, "Three?"

"Wrong. Five," he said and stepped behind me. He placed one hand on my waist and took my hand in his other and began to guide me to walk forwards.

I noticed he seemed to be fascinated with holding me by my waist, not that I minded at all, but I had to ask. "Darling, you always seem to put your hand on my waist whenever we are together. Why do you do that?"

"Because, my dear, I think it's a nice intimate gesture that isn't too romantic to do in public." He lowered his voice a little, "And I'll admit that I do love the way your body curves there." I blushed deeply and I knew he wouldn't have dared to say that if I could've seen his face. I knew he was enjoying my reaction because I heard a slight giggle escape his mouth. We continued walking and he led me down streets and around corners until he stopped. I felt him reach forward and press something in front of us. "We're almost there," he murmured. My heart pounded with excitement and I listened eagerly for the sound of other people, but I didn't hear anything except for the sound of people in the distance.

"Chris, if this is the best restaurant in Paris; shouldn't there be other people around?"

"Hush, my love. You'll understand everything soon enough," he said.

We walked forward a few steps and then stopped and turned around. Suddenly I felt the ground beneath us start to move up. I was scared to death for a moment until I realized what was going on. "Oh! We're on an elevator!... Why?"

He laughed. "I said you'll understand everything soon! You're so curious…"

The elevator kept going up and up for a while. I began to get nervous. "Chris, you know I'm afraid of heights."

"I know, but I think you'll make an exception this time…" he said. He was being mysterious about this! It was driving me insane. Finally, the elevator stopped and he led me out. "I'm going to take your blindfold off now. Be prepared for a big surprise."

He removed my blindfold… and I nearly fainted.

_We were on top of the Eiffel Tower_

I gasped. "… Oh my God… Chris, this is… amazing. I… I wasn't expecting anything like this… This is breathtaking…" I said, gawking at the beautiful sight. "How on earth did you…"

"My parents chipped in a little… Well, a lot, but only on getting the tower to ourselves for an hour or so. I paid for everything else by myself." he said motioning to a table that held two plates of food, some candles, and champagne.

I smiled widely. "Chris, this is so romantic… so perfect… Thank you." I said and kissed his lips lovingly. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close to him.

We kissed each other like that for a long time until he released me led to our table. He pulled out a chair for me and I sat down, giving him a small peck on the cheek before I sat. He sat down across from me. "_Bon appetite," _he said and we began to eat.

We talked and laughed and ate for what felt like mere seconds, but really was an hour. We walked around the tower and looked out over Paris. It was just so romantic. Eventually, we stopped talking and settled at the spot with the best view. The sun had set and the stars were appearing in the dark sky. He had wrapped his arms around me and my head was leaning against his chest. It was one of the best moments I ever experienced in my life.

A few minutes of magical silence passed. "Do you love me?" he asked suddenly.

I nodded, "I love you more than anything in the universe," I answered.

He was silent for a moment. Then he turned me to face him. "Do you really?"

I noticed tears were coming to his eyes. I laid a hand on one side of his face. "Yes, of course. Do you doubt our love?"

"No, it's just… I love you so much…" the tears were beginning to fall now.

"What is it, my love? Why are you crying?" I asked, a few tears making their way to my eyes.

He knelt down on one knee. _Oh God, Katie was right! _"I love you, Madeline, and I know you love me. I can't stand to be away from you for more than an hour. Believe me, it's torture. I can't imagine a future for myself that you aren't a part of. I don't just want you in my life; I need you in my life. Will you marry me?"

We were both crying tears of love and happiness now. Without hesitating for even a second, I immediately exclaimed, "Yes. Yes I'll marry you!" He took my left hand in his and slid the beautiful diamond ring onto my finger. Then he stood and we embraced and kissed each other.

We kissed each other over and over again. Each kiss was more fiery and passionate than the one before. We pulled away for a moment to catch our breath. "… Marry me now… here, in Paris," he said breathlessly.

I was a surprised by his request. "I don't want to do anything except marry you now, but I can't. My family… they'd be upset if I eloped without them knowing."

"Forget them. We will be each other's family," he had a point there…

"Why not, let's get married," I consented and gave him another kiss.

He swept me off of my feet and carried me to the elevator. Before the elevator doors could close, I yelled to all of Paris, "I'm going to be Mrs. Christopher Chanatry!"

We both laughed and gazed at each other. "Indeed you are," he said and kissed my forehead.

~oOo~

A few minutes later, we arrived at a small church. We were still smiling and giggling like crazed lovers, which is what we were. Our only hope was that the church would be open. It was all so exciting; eloping in the city of love. I didn't know that the day held more surprises than I thought…

He knocked on the door of the church three times. We waited anxiously for a few moments and finally the door opened, but the person who opened the door was certainly not a minster…

"KATIE! What on earth are you doing-" before I could finish, Chris and Katie had pulled me inside. I saw there were many more people there than I was expecting, among whom were my parents! "Mom! Dad!" I said as I ran up to them and hugged them.

They smiled, "What? Did you think we would miss our own daughter's wedding?"

"Well, considering I decided to get married just a few minutes ago…" I said and we all laughed.

"Ahem," Katie said and I turned and saw she was holding a small veil and a bouquet of roses, my favorite flower. I smiled and nearly started to cry again as I stood in front of a small mirror while Katie and my mother fixed my veil and fussed over every last detail of my appearance. When they were done, my mother kissed my cheek and gave me a few motherly words of wisdom. Then she gave me a necklace that had been passed down through generations of women in our family that was said to ensure fertility if a woman wore it on her wedding night. Then she and Katie went into the main hall of the church.

The church's organ player began to play the bridal chorus and my father offered me his arm. I linked arms with him. I was so happy that my father was walking me down the aisle and I wasn't walking alone like I had assumed only minutes ago. It took me a moment to realize that Chris' parents and all of the people on the college trip with me were sitting in the pews of the church. They stood as I walked down the aisle and I became teary-eyed again when I saw Chris waiting for me at the altar like a real groom in a real wedding. I saw a few tears form in his eyes when he saw me walking down the aisle with my veil and bouquet like a real bride. My father gave me away and I joined my fiancé at the altar.

The service was a blur. All I remember is Chris and I stumbling through our vows with tears. Finally, we got to the "I do's". Then we exchanged our first kiss as husband and wife. It was a little embarrassing to kiss him so passionately in front of so many people, but I heard a few "Awwww's" from our friends in the pews. When I looked over at my parents, I saw that they were both crying and smiling. Chris' parents were doing the same.

Everybody came up to us and expressed their congratulations to us as we stood hand-in-hand next to each other. Some people snapped pictures of us and our families. It was all a blur of people and voices to me. It was nice to know that so many people cared, but I really just wanted to be alone with my husband. Finally, we could leave. Everyone crowded the steps to the church and threw rice as Chris and I fled the church in a whirlwind. We had one common desire; to be alone with each other, but my parents wouldn't let us leave so easily. I guessed they had dreaded and embraced the day that I would leave them to be with my husband. They talked about anything they could think of; marital advice, my medical problems, visitation, etc.

Eventually, it became too obvious that they didn't want me to go. "Mom, Dad, that's enough. We will be fine. I know you two are only blabbering on because you don't want me to leave. I'll miss you too, but you're starting to embarrass me." I said as kindly as possible.

They both sighed. "You're right," my mom said.

"We just can't believe our baby girl is all grown up and married now," my dad said.

I smiled and pulled them in for one last hug. "I love you both so much."

"We love you too," my mother sniffled, "Go away with your husband now. We'll be fine."

I giggled and kissed their cheeks. Then Chris picked me up bridal style and carried me to a cab that had been waiting for us for far too long.

"Don't forget to eat!" I heard my mom yell after us and I laughed.

We were finally alone. I smiled at the man who was now my husband and laid my head on his shoulder. He wouldn't settle for that. He pulled me into his lap and kissed me. I smiled, "I think this is a new world record; going from my boyfriend to my fiancé to my husband in about an hour."

He giggled, "Should we call the world record book?"

"No. I have other plans in mind…" I tried to give him a seductive smirk, but it quickly turned into an unintentional blush. I looked up at him and saw that he was blushing a little too. We made small talk in the cab and expressed how happy we were through many, many kisses. I turned in his lap to where my back was against his chest and admired our rings. "Chris, you planned all of this, right?"

"Yes, of course," he said.

"How did you know I would agree to eloping or even to your proposal?"

"I was just guessing before I asked you if you really loved me. When you confirmed that, a lot of emotions hit me at once, so that's why I was crying. I was planning on telling you about the people at the church if you didn't agree to elope after I begged, but you agreed fairly quickly without me having to beg too much."

I smiled. "I swear that you're the most romantic man in the world," I said and kissed his cheek.

He blushed, "I'm glad you think so because it's only for you… Wife… I still can't believe I can call you my wife. I never thought anyone would want to marry me… for love, that is."

I sat up a bit and turned to face him. "What made you think that?"

"You know how I was before you found me… before you saved me. Nobody wanted to be friends with me and I didn't care. The only reason I had any friends at all was because of my parents' money. Girls threw themselves at me for my money, but I ignored them. No matter what they did, I knew they didn't love me or even like me at all. I thought that that would be the case with you, but I can see the sincerity in your eyes when you tell me that you love me," he said.

I kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry that you felt that way. I promise I will always love you no matter what. That's why we have these rings, _mon amour_."

He smiled, "Thank you." He pulled me closer to him for a passionate kiss.

The cab stopped soon afterwards and he released me so that we could get out of the cab, but he picked me up again as soon as we were both out. He carried me into the hotel and into an elevator. I thought about what would inevitably happen once we were alone in our bedroom. _I_ was his wife now. _I_ would sleep with him. _I_ would please him.

_And tonight was our wedding night… Tonight was the night._

I gazed at him lovingly as we waited for the elevator to get to our floor. I took a moment to admire every detail of his handsome face; his wavy brown hair, his beautiful deep brown eyes, the few light freckles that danced across his cheeks, his smile… a smile that was what everyone else called 'weird', but I called 'perfect'. I loved every little part of him, like the way his eyes crinkled up when he laughed or smiled or how his ears turned red sometimes when he was angry. He was never angry at me, though. I didn't doubt that he would eventually fight with me. I wasn't exactly the most pleasant of people to live with.

He looked much different from when I first met him. He used to be very dark. He had black hair that didn't look very good with his skin tone. He wore dark colored clothes all the time. I knew that his outward appearance didn't reflect who he was on the inside from day one. If he bumped into someone on accident, he would immediately apologize and hurry away. That's actually how I met him. He tried to get rid of me, but I was too stubborn. Look at us now!

My thoughts were interrupted when the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Chris carried me down the hall and to the door of our room. He scrambled to find the room key in his pocket, which was very hard to do because he was carrying me. Finally, he found the key and pushed open the door to our room. I smiled widely when he put me down to close the door. I glanced around the room. It had a queen-sized bed, a closet, a small bathroom, a desk, two bedside tables with lamps, a TV, and a nice balcony looking out over the Parisian streets below; pretty standard for a hotel room.

I must've stood there for longer than I thought because I suddenly felt Chris' body behind mine and his arms around me. It was so lovely to be held tight in my husband's arms while we swayed and danced around the room to our own silent rhythm. We made our way out onto the balcony and gazed out over Paris. "It's so beautiful out here," I said quietly.

"But not as beautiful as you," he said as he pressed his lips into my hair.

I blushed deeply, "There are many things more beautiful than me; Paris being one of them."

"Mmmmm… If there are, I can't think of any."

My blush became even deeper. "Stop it Chris, you're making me blush."

He moved his lips down to my neck. "I don't really care," he murmured and began to trail kisses down my neck, occasionally biting down and leaving love bites.

I felt like if I blushed anymore, my head would explode, so instead my reaction came out as a gasp. My heart skipped a beat and then began to speed up and shivers ran through my body. His hands turned me around to face him. I moved my hands to his chest and he pulled me close to him. He kissed the love bites on my neck and began to move his lips up past my jaw and then to my lips. Every kiss was more eager and passionate than the one before. We wanted each other more than anything. When we pulled away from each other, I tugged on his shirt, hoping to convey what I wanted. He threw a glance at the bed in our room and raised his eyebrows at me, as if trying to verify that that's what I meant, and I nodded.

He scooped me up in his arms and I wrapped my legs around him. He walked inside the room and set me down and we closed the curtains over the glass door to the balcony. Then he turned back to me and pulled me close to him and kissed me. His lips never left mine as he guided me backwards until I felt an edge behind my knees and we fell onto the bed together. I fiddled with the buttons on his shirt and he unzipped my dress until we were almost completely bare and nude.

He stopped when we had reduced each other to our undergarments. "Are you sure about this," he asked nervously.

"Yes, I'm sure. Are you?" I responded.

"Yes, it's just… we're both virgins- you had better be a virgin, Madeline- and I don't want to hurt you or something…"

"No, I'll be fine; I promise… and don't doubt my virginity, Chris."

"I'm sorry," he said. We became totally naked with each other and began our lovemaking.

~oOo~

I awoke the next morning bare in his arms. I was confused for a moment until I remembered last night's events; the engagement… the wedding… the lovemaking… it was all so unreal to me. It was one of those things that you only read about in books or see at the movies. And yet here I was in his arms.

There was a light knock on the door. I got up, careful not to wake Chris, though he stirred anyway, and tried to find something to throw on. All I could manage to find in a hurry were my undergarments and a large towel. I rushed to the door and looked through peephole. A flood of relief swept over me when I saw that it was only Katie. I opened the door quietly and whispered "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was hoping we could go do something fun together today; just us two besties. Can I come in?" she replied loudly.

"Shush! Chris is sleeping! No, you cannot come in and sure, I can hang out with you today. Just let me tell Chris and I'll meet you in front of the hotel in an hour," I said quietly.

"Ok," she whispered. "By the way, nice towel," she said sarcastically and walked away.

I blushed, embarrassed at her comment, and quickly closed the door. I went back to the bed and sat on the edge of the side that Chris was sleeping on. I picked up his hand and traced the skin between his index finger and thumb with my right thumb. I caressed one side of his face with my free hand and began to softly sing our favorite song. I thought this was a sweet way to wake him up. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he smiled at me. I smiled back and stopped singing, "Good morning, darling."

He sat up and yawned. "Good morning, sweetheart," he said and pulled me in for a 'good morning' kiss.

It was then that I realized that my towel had fallen and I had woken him up in my underwear, but I didn't blush this time. In fact, I subtly moved to a position that flattered my figure and made me look slightly sexier. I wanted my husband to want me. I had felt so different since I had woken up that morning. I felt more mature, like I had aged three years. Yesterday, I felt like a naïve 19 year old girl, but today I felt like the mature 22 year old married woman I actually was. I moved to straddle his lap, which was very naughty of me considering he was still naked so the only thing separating me from his manhood was my panties, and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Katie just stopped by," I said.

"Really? What for?" he asked.

"She wants me to hang out with her today, just the two of us. Is that fine with you?"

He sighed sadly, "Yeah, I guess."

"I don't have to go if you don't want me to. I'll stay here and take a rain check," I said quickly, trying to spare his feelings.

His sad expression quickly turned into a smile and then to a laugh, "I was just kidding, Madeline. You can go if you want to."

I playfully punched his arm, "Don't do that to me! You made me think that I hurt your feelings!"

He laughed, "Ok, ok, I'm sorry. Am I forgiven?"

I smiled. "You're more than forgiven," I said and kissed his cheek. "I don't have to meet her for another hour or so. Do you want to go get some breakfast with me?"

"Breakfast sounds great."

"Good," I said. He kissed my nose and I smiled and got off of him so we could both get dressed.

~oOo~

Soon, an hour had nearly passed, and we were sitting in the lobby trying to make the most of the time I had before I went to spend some time with Katie. We had eaten a quick breakfast at a small café across the street from the hotel. We loved being alone and unbothered by our friends, though we did like to spend time with them, but we were newlyweds and we just wanted some privacy. I played with the charm on the necklace that my mother had given to me the night before, thinking about my future with Chris. He was going to be a doctor and I was going to be a performer. We were both from New York, so that was where we decided to live. But beyond that, would we have children? And if so, how many would we have? There was just so much to think about.

"Where did you get that," he asked pointing to my necklace.

"Oh, it's just an heirloom that my mother gave me before the wedding," I answered.

"It's very pretty. Is it special or something?"

I blushed a bit. "An old wives tale says that it grants fertility to a woman as long as she wears it on her wedding night."

"Oh… and you wore it last night, didn't you?"

I nodded and smiled, "Yeah."

"So does that mean you could be pregnant right now?"

I blushed again at the thought of being pregnant right then. "My mother didn't specify if it meant fertility on the wedding night or just fertility in general."

"Well, I just want you to know that I certainly wouldn't be mad if you were."

"Are you saying that you want me to be pregnant now?"

"No… I'm just saying I wouldn't be mad if you were…" he said and kissed my cheek.

We continued to talk to each to each other until finally it was time for me to meet Katie. "I've got to go now, my love" I said as I started to stand up.

He seized my arm gently, trying to stop me from getting up, and gave me the same upsetting pout that he had earlier. "But I want you to stay," he said sadly.

"Oh, darling, please don't do this to me again! I hate having to choose between you and Katie," I said sympathetically.

Once again, he was only kidding. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he said giggling. "Go meet Katie. I'll see you later, sweetheart," he said and kissed me one last time.

"I really don't know why you find that so funny," I muttered under my breath. I smiled and walked outside to meet Katie, who was already waiting for me. "Am I late," I asked.

"No, you're right on time. I saw you sitting inside and I was going to go get you, but I didn't want to interrupt your little moment with Chris," she said.

I smiled, "Thank you for not interrupting. We're very clingy to each other now that we're married."

She smirked, "I kind of guessed that from your towel episode this morning."

I blushed. For some reason, I became a naïve little girl around her again. Maybe it was just that I felt like I was letting her win by admitting there was another side of me. "So, what do want to do?"

"I don't know… something crazy…"

The perfect idea popped into my mind right on cue. "We could break into Christine Daae's dressing room…"

She smiled. "That sounds crazy… perfect! And you should get in there and sing and try to summon the phantom," she laughed.

I smiled, "Let's go, then."

~oOo~

A few minutes later, we were creeping around the opera house. We got to the dressing room without attracting too much attention. It was locked, but we were able to pick the lock with one of the bobby pins in Katie's purse. It was dark inside the dressing room and there was no electricity, but I went in alone and shut the door anyway. I began to sing _The Jewel Song_ from _Faust._

_"Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir. Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir. Est-ce toi, Marguerite, est-ce toi? Réponds-moi, réponds-moi. Réponds, réponds, réponds vite! Non! Non! ce n est plus toi!"_

I sang and sang and sang and sang… until I felt one death cold hand seize me and another hand clasp over my mouth.

_That was all I was aware of before I passed out._


	2. Chapter 2

When I finally regained consciousness, I refused to open my eyes. I was hoping that I had just woken up from a horrible nightmare and Chris would be here to comfort me soon. I was lying on an old, dusty couch that made me sneeze.

"Ah, so she is alive," an icy, entrancing voice said nearby.

_"This can't be happening. The opera ghost is dead," _I thought to myself. I squeezed my eyelids together as tightly as possible, willing myself to return to reality.

"And she's awake… Open your eyes, child. There's no use in pretending you're not awake," the terribly beautiful voice instructed me and I mindlessly obeyed it for a moment. I immediately shut my eyes again when I took in the sight of the strange masked being kneeling only inches away from me.

"Oh, you must be terribly frightened. Perhaps it's because I haven't properly introduced myself," the voice said. "I am Erik. Nothing more. Just Erik. What is your name, mademoiselle? Open your eyes and tell me your name."

I did not obey him this time. Instead, I just rolled over on the couch to turn my back to him. "Dear lady, I must know the name of the owner of such a beautiful voice," he tried to use a flattering tone, but I could sense the rapidly growing anger and annoyance in his voice. Still, I would not let him win. I even stuck out my chin a bit in my stubbornness. "FOOLISH CHILD," two frigid hands suddenly grabbed my shoulders, forced me onto my back, and began to shake me ferociously, his anger finally coming at full speed. "I SAID OPEN YOUR EYES AND TELL ME YOUR NAME!" he screeched at me.

I opened my eyes from terror, "…You did not say 'please'…" I said timidly.

"DAMN YOUR CURSED STUBBORNNESS," he yelled and raised his hand to give me a well-deserved slap across the face, but he regained his manners and lowered his hand. He backed away from me, took a deep breath, and said calmly, "You are trying my patience. Consider yourself lucky that I am gentleman and have not hit you." He took another deep breath and said through gritted teeth, "Now, _please_ tell me your name."

His furious demeanor had been extinguished, but there were still embers left from the fire. I knew that one wrong word from my mouth could start the raging flame again in a heartbeat. I sat up straight, repentant of my obstinacy. "M-My name… is Madeline," I stuttered reluctantly, "I apologize for my stubbornness."

"Well, _Madeline_, I apologize for my outrageous behavior. I should not have become so furious over a silly thing such as knowing your name. Now, may I ask if you have a last name?"

"Yes," I said and debated whether to use my maiden name or my newly-granted surname. I chose the latter, "My last name is Chanatry."

"China-tree?" he asked, bewildered by the odd surname.

"No, it's Chanatry. It's pronounced Chah-nah-tree with the emphasis on 'Chah'," I explained.

"Ah, I see. Now, Ms. Chanatry, would you please follow me so that I may give you a tour of my home?"

I nodded and stood up. I was only about 5' 4" tall, so he towered at least a foot and a half over me. Even when I stood on my tip-toes, I could barely reach his shoulder. I sighed at the immense height difference and he chuckled, "Do not feel bad that you are so short compared to me. Even fully grown men don't usually go past my mouth." He grabbed my wrist in his long, bony fingers. "Come, there is much for you to see," he said and I was nearly dragged out of the room as I tried to keep up with his long strides.

He showed me around every room in the house… well almost. There was one room that he forbade me to enter and I assumed that it was the torture chamber. Still, I couldn't help but be curious; I mean, who wouldn't?

All the rooms were more beautiful than the descriptions in the book. I learned later that the room I had woken up in was the famous Louis-Phillipe room. Honestly and truly, I nearly had a phangirl attack when I saw the beautiful pipe organ in his room. Finally, the tour ended when we reached a large bedroom.

"This is where you will be staying," he said coolly as though this were an everyday occurrence.

"I'm staying?" I asked; panic beginning to rise in me.

He looked at me as though I was a simple-minded child, "Yes, of course. You have to stay. You know that I exist and I cannot risk being found by another angry mob."

Tears began to form in my eyes, "Do I have to stay… forever?"

He was silent for a moment, still staring at me like I was a stupid little girl who had not learned her lessons in school, "…Yes... but maybe if you're a good girl I could send you back up. You won't remember anything from this world or your previous life in the other one, though." Tears began to spill over my cheeks. "Don't cry. If you cry now, you'll cry every day and I wouldn't want you to be miserable here for the rest of your life."

"B-But I don't w-want to stay here," I sniffled; trying to be a good girl and obey him by stopping my tears.

"Poor child, I assure you that you will be quite amused down here. I'll let you do whatever you want to do, as long as it doesn't involve you leaving here. Perhaps you'll find that it's not so horrible here." My tears had stopped now. "That's a good girl. Now, it's very late. You should get some rest. You will find everything you need in the closet." I nodded and reluctantly walked into what was now my room.

I opened the closet and found many old gowns. I pulled out what I assumed was an old chemise and put it on. I crawled into the old, cold bed, desperately seeking some comforting warmth. I doubted I would find any comfort in this place. I began to cry again. "I need you, Chris. I need you," I whispered through my sobs, "Are you looking for me, Chris? Do you need me too? Come find me; wake me up from this nightmare." I sobbed and whispered for a terrible eternity until I finally fell into sleep's blind arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I seriously can't stop writing this phanfic. I made a deal with myself that I can't write a chapter in this one until I wrote a chapter the other one, but I keep finishing the other one's chapters pretty quickly so then I have time to work on this one. I'll probably be updating everyday or every other day from now on. Thanks for the amazing reviews! I try to reply to every single one. Sorry if this chapter is boring. I ****_promise_**** you it will get better, though.**

_I awoke in a hospital bed._

_A woman was bandaging my ankles and I was in severe pain and soreness. I winced when her fingers pressed into my ankle a bit. She looked up at me, "Oh, I'm so sorry if that hurts."_

_"It's fine," I murmured and rubbed my forehead, which ached, "What am I doing here?"_

_That's when Chris walked in. "Chris!" I exclaimed and smiled at him, momentarily forgetting the pain. _

_"Madeline," he sighed in relief and sat on the edge of the hospital bed. "Thank God you're alright. I came as soon as Katie called."_

_"W-What happened to me?" I stuttered._

_"Katie said you went to the bathroom at the opera house and you didn't come back. When she went to find you, you were lying unconscious on the floor in front of the grand escalier and you appeared to have fallen down the stairs. You probably had a concussion and that's why you don't remember what happened."_

_"Oh, so what happened to me injury-wise?"_

_He shrugged and the woman, who I realized was a nurse, said, "You broke both of your ankles and you have many bruises and scratches."_

_I nodded understandingly, "So that's why I'm in so much pain."_

_"If it's really bothering you so much, I can give you some pain killers," the nurse said._

_I nodded, "That would be nice." _

_She finished bandaging my ankles and left to get some medicine. Chris took my hand and brought it to his lips. "I'm so happy that you're ok. Katie's phone call scared me a little," he whispered into the back of my hand._

_I smiled, "I'm just happy that you're here with me."_

_The nurse came back and gave me the pain medication, which seemed to help almost immediately. "You should be free to leave soon," she turned to Chris, "Just make sure that she doesn't pass out or vomit in the next 24 hours and she will be fine."_

_He smiled a bit, "I'll keep an eye on her at all times."_

_"I'll bring up a wheelchair in a few minutes and then you may go," the nurse said._

_"That won't be necessary," Chris said._

_"But, sir, she can't walk."_

_"I know. I plan on carrying her everywhere… Well, except the airport, but they have wheelchairs there anyway."_

_"Chris, you don't have to. You'll look silly if you carry me everywhere." I said; blushing a little about his sweet gesture._

_"I want to. I'll look silly for you. Besides, we only have two more days here."_

_I sighed and smiled, "If you insist."_

_"Then I guess nothing is keeping you two here. You may leave now," the nurse said._

_Chris smiled and scooped me up in his arms and carried me all the way out of the hospital. He began to walk towards the opera house. "Chris, where are we going?"_

_When he looked at me he wasn't Chris anymore._

_He was Erik._

_"Who's Chris? And we're going home, my dear," Erik said._

I woke up close to crying. I looked to my left side and nearly screamed. Erik was sitting in a chair right next to the bed! Why was he in my room while I was sleeping? I thought about the loose and light chemise I was wearing. Oh, God, he could've easily…

He must've seen the fear take over my face, for he said, "Oh, you must think I did something terrible to you while you slept. I assure you I did not dare to touch you. Erik would never touch a lady without her permission. I was merely watching you sleep."

Relief swept over my face and I calmed down a little before I was filled with questions. "Why were you watching me sleep?"

"Mainly because I was waiting for you to wake up. Also, there hasn't been another person here for quite some time, you know, and I find people to be very interesting things to study, you see, and it's extremely hard to watch oneself sleep."

This was very odd to me, but I remembered reading about his odd scientific habits. He would go to great lengths to complete an experiment. All I could say was, "Oh…"

"Now, you must dress. Meet me in the main dining room when you are ready for breakfast. You do remember where the main dining room is, right?"

I nodded and he left me alone to dress. I let a few tears fall as I remembered last night's dream. It was just so real, like I had never been kidnapped and I had only lost my way and fallen and this was all just a horrible dream. I picked out a pretty light blue dress from the closet and tried it on. It fit perfectly. "_Erik must have a particular size in mind for his taste in women." _I thought to myself. I went to my beautiful bathroom and looked in to mirror. I was in desperate need of makeup.

_It was then that I realized he had taken my purse._

Dammit! That had some back up makeup in it! Not to mention my cell phone! I could've used that to escape from this prison. I decided to ask for it at breakfast.

I managed to fix my hair because there was a brush and a few ribbons in the bathroom. After I decided that I was finally suitable to go to breakfast, I left the room and tried to remember where it was. I wandered around aimlessly for a while. I did not notice that the hall I was traveling down was becoming narrower and darker. After walking down the same hall without any luck, I turned around and saw that that way looked the same as the other way. I switched back and forth between pathways until I finally became frustrated and afraid and collapsed into a sobbing heap on the floor.

"Ah, there she is! Poor child, she's lost her way hasn't she," I heard Erik's voice say. Soon I felt his hand grab my arm and yank me up off of the floor. "Poor girl, she thought she knew where she was going." He began to lead me out of the passageway.

Soon, we entered a large and light room that I remembered to be the dining room. He pulled out a chair for me and I sat. Breakfast was already set out for me on the table; bread and jam and sausage with a glass of water. I looked over at his spot across from me at the table and saw that he didn't have any food on a plate for himself.

"Aren't you going to eat?" I asked him.

"I don't need to eat," he responded.

"Everybody needs to eat to live, Erik."

"Well, it just so happens that I'm not per say 'alive'."

We sat in silence for the rest of the meal. When I finished, he said, "Since you are to live down here from now on, I feel that I should know more than you name."

"I don't think that's a good idea right now. If I tell you right everything right now, we won't have anything to talk about later."

He sighed, "Fine, but at least tell me one thing about yourself."

I hesitated before saying, "I'm very stubborn."

"I can see that," he muttered. "Tell me something else."

"…I get very grumpy and emotional when I'm hungry."

He nodded, "That's something I'll have to keep in mind."

"Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Where is my purse?"

"Why do you need to know that?"

"Because it has stuff I need in it."

"Like what?"

"My makeup."

"I can get that for you."

"No, I want my purse."

"Why?"

"Because, dammit, I NEED MY CELLPHONE!"

He chuckled sinisterly, "And you think I don't know what that is, do you Madeline? A ghost has to get out once in a while."

I sighed and gave up all hope of getting my purse back.

He took me to the music room and played his compositions all day long. He told me we would sing tomorrow, but I should here his music first before I sang it. Some songs made me feel overwhelmingly happy, others made me sad, others made me feel angry, and some made me feel… dead. That was the best way to describe it. They were dark and solemn and kind of sinister. These songs scared me, like he was slowly trying to kill me in his music. We spent the day like this until he told me to go to bed.

I found my way back easily this time. Chris and the hope of being rescued filled my thoughts. I couldn't fall asleep until I thought of some way to tell him where I was.

I couldn't think of any.

So I did not sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

I lied awake for hours and hours. I wished that I could fall asleep, but I just simply couldn't, no matter how tired I felt. I decided to walk around and explore. I lit the candle on my bedside table and picked it up. I slowly opened the door to the hall way and began to walk around. I walked past the kitchen, the music room, and the supposed torture chamber until I finally came to the Louis-Phillipe room. I loved this room. It was so beautiful. I hadn't had a chance to really admire it yet, so I walked in.

I walked around the room, taking in all of the beautiful furniture. There were flowers there, but I don't know how they grew in a place without sunlight. I walked past the couch I had woken up on and I sneezed again. "_Somebody really needs to dust that off,"_ I thought to myself.

"What are you doing here?" Erik said behind me.

I jumped, frightened for a moment, and turned to him. "Oh, I couldn't sleep and I…"

I realized he was not wearing a mask.

I was trying so hard not to scream at the ugliness of his face. I was petrified. I had never really seen a decaying corpse in my life, but his face… it looked like… like the face of an unwrapped mummy that you sometimes see at museums and in books. One could actually believe he was dead if he lied still and closed his eyes. When he talked…oh, it was the worst when he talked. It was like looking at a dead body in a casket at a funeral, but then the body would start to talk. No makeup artist could ever capture a deformity like this one. I was so scared that I started to shake, but I didn't dare look away for fear that he would get mad at me for being afraid of his appearance.

"What's wrong, Madeline? Has the cat got your tongue?" he said sarcastically as he started walking toward me. "Poor Madeline, you look as though you've seen a ghost…"

I was at a loss for words. "I…uh…I…"

"It's my face isn't it? No matter; you were bound to see it eventually. Does it bother you? You're shaking, Madeline, are you aware of that? Are you aware of anything? You must not be, because if you were, you would've run away screaming by now."

I lost it. I just couldn't stand here any longer. I screamed and ran past him, heading for my room. I was crying. My mind would never be able to erase that image. It would haunt my dreams forever. I heard him laughing as I ran, "Perhaps I spoke to soon!"

I ran into my room and slammed the door behind me. I crawled back into my bed and lied on my stomach, crying into the pillows. If I had any hope of falling asleep tonight, it was gone. I wished I had somebody to talk to; somebody to comfort me when I was upset. I was even foolish enough to pray for this. I didn't know how I would get it. Maybe Erik could capture Chris or some other person to keep me company.

God heard my prayer and He answered it in the craziest way.

Erik and I began to sing every day. My singing was pleasing to him for about the first month or two, but soon he wanted to teach me more. One day, my mind was out of it and was losing focus easily.

"Madeline! Focus! You are getting breathy again and you've missed your cue for the third time." he snapped at me for the fifteenth time that day.

"Wha… oh, sorry," I said and sighed.

He took his hands off of the piano and turned toward me. He sighed, "Does your heart belong to music or does it belong to a man in the real world?"

Perhaps I lied because I didn't want to hurt Erik's feelings or maybe it was because my mind was out of it that day, but I answered, "My heart belongs to music, of course."

He smiled slightly for the first time ever, "Good."

I didn't know it then, but he would eventually see the truth behind my lie.

About two months after this incident, I began to feel sick in the mornings.

One day at breakfast, I became very nauseas. "Excuse me for a moment," I said to Erik and I half-ran to my bathroom. I knelt before the toilet and vomited into it.

Then I felt it.

I felt that little fluttery thump in my stomach and I knew.

I was pregnant.

And it was Chris' child.

I suddenly felt sicker and paler than usual. I stood up on wobbly legs and looked at my midsection in the mirror. It had definitely become much larger even though I had been eating less than usual. I sighed, I couldn't hide this from Erik for much longer… but I would try!

I walked back to the dining room and sat down to finish eating. "Are you okay?" Erik said, "You look a little pale."

I nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little sick."

"Then you should rest. You can lie on the couch and I'll play for you if you'd like."

I smiled slightly and nodded, "That would be nice."

-oOo-

Later that day, I was resting on the couch while Erik played music. I was far too wrapped up in my thoughts of the baby inside of me to pay attention to the songs. How long had I been here? Three or four months? I wished that Chris was with me. I wanted him to know about our baby, the result of our first and only night together. The baby began to kick a lot. I began to cry, upset by the thought that if Erik didn't let me go, Chris wouldn't know his child.

My crying got Erik's attention. "Madeline, what's wrong? Did I play something too sad or too dark for you to handle?"

I sniffled, "No, no, I'm just… I'm just hungry," I said. It wasn't a lie, I was hungry, but it wasn't a complete truth.

He stood up from the organ bench and walked over to me. "But you just ate lunch," he said and patted by stomach.

"NO! Don't touch me there!" I said, but it was too late; he had felt a kick. He kept his hand there and felt several more kicks. I began to sob harder and covered my face with my hands, not wanting to see the anger and disappointment on Erik's face. "It's true; I'm pregnant," I said in a voice that was barely more audible than a whisper. I heard him sigh and get up and leave the room. I rolled over and sobbed into a pillow. God knows what he was planning to do with me. He would probably kill me. I couldn't think of much worse than that.

Soon I felt him grab my arm. "Get up," he said coldly.

I sniffled and obeyed him, "What are you going to do with me."

"Right now I'm going to give you some food… unless you were lying about that too," he spat out angrily.

He forced me down into my chair and shoved a fork into my hand. I was crying so hard that I could barely bring a forkful of food to my mouth.

"Quit sniveling and eat!" he yelled.

I tried to stop my sobbing has quickly as possible and ate. While I ate he went to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of wine. I swear he must've downed enough glasses to empty the entire bottle. On his last glass, he got up and paced the floor behind me, which made me scared. Soon I felt his hand come from behind me and push the fork out of my hand. Then he moved both of his hands to my stomach to feel if the child was still restless or still. When he felt that the baby was still, he pushed the plate off the table so fiercely that shattered when it hit the ground. I yelped, panic-stricken about what he might do to me.

He turned the chair around to face him. "WHY DID YOU LIE TO ME?! WHY? YOU SAID YOUR HEART BELONGED TO MUSIC AND NOT TO SOME MAN! I'VE BEEN WONDERING WHAT THAT RING ON YOUR FINGER WAS FOR AND NOW I REALIZE IT'S A WEDDING RING! YOU'RE _MARRIED_! I CAN'T BELIEVE I WASTED MY TIME ON YOU!" he screamed at me and threw me to the ground and hit me at least three times. I began to cry and I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could. I ran to my room as quickly as my legs could carry me.

I slammed the door and collapsed sobbing on my bed. I knew the places where he hit me would have nasty bruises in the morning. Once again, I wished Chris was with. He would never hit me, especially if I was pregnant. The only thing that kept me from taking my own life that night was the baby. If I ended my life, then I murdered a child. Tears could not express my emotions anymore. I began to scream into my pillow. I screamed and cried until I became too tired and fell asleep.

**A/N: Don't kill me. I told you this phanfic would be sad and tragic.**


	5. Chapter 5

Erik kept me locked in my room.

I had never noticed that the door locked from the outside, so I was quite surprised and horrified when I went to open the door that day.

_"Really mature, Erik. Is this what you plan to do to me; keep me locked up until I starve to death or miscarry? Why not just throw me in the torture chamber and get it over with?" _I thought to myself.

The baby began to kick rapidly. We were both hungry. I rubbed my small bump soothingly. "I know, little one. Mama's hungry too, but our captor won't let me out to get some food," I said to my child.

It was weird to think about the baby as a living human being inside of me. I mean the living human being part wasn't so odd, but the fact that it was inside of me was just so foreign to me, like trying to communicate with somebody who speaks an unknown language. Despite all the languages I had learned and the things I knew, motherhood wasn't on the list… and I wasn't sure that I was ready to learn it. I didn't know a lot about taking care of a newborn and learning on my own was going to be hard. I wouldn't kill this baby though. No, I would make it my mission in life to keep it out of harm's way and I would gladly sacrifice my own life for it to live.

I lied down on the small couch in my room and began to draw little circles on my bump. I began to think of names for the child. I thought of naming it "Luke" if it was a boy so that if Chris ever got to meet him, he could say, "Luke, I am your father." I laughed at the thought of that. Chris always had a great sense of humor… and a killer Darth Vader impression. I ended up ruling that out as a name, but maybe I could name it "Lucas". No, that seemed like a middle name to me. I thought of more names and finally settled on "Peter Lucas Chanatry" for a boy's name and "Phoebe Rose Chanatry" for a girl. I smiled at these happy thoughts… until I remembered that the child might not get to know its father. I still couldn't come to terms with that. I began to cry again.

About six hours passed, according to the clock on my wall, until Erik finally opened the door. He grabbed my arm before I even had a chance to stand and began to drag me to the dining room. He pushed me into a chair and made me eat the food he had set out for me.

"I've been thinking about your punishment," he said coldly.

"I'm being _punished_?" I asked meanly.

"Yes!" he yelled.

"For what? Being loved by somebody? It's _you _who should be punished for kidnapping me!" I snapped angrily at him.

"You _lied_ to me!"

"You _hit _me!"

He didn't respond. The only thing I had ever done to him was disobey and lie to him.

"You hurt, kidnapped, neglected, and terrorized me! Now you say _I_ should be punished for being pregnant! _You_ should be locked up in a prison for the rest of your life for the hell you've put me through in just these few months!"

He raised his hand and slapped me savagely across the cheek. He grabbed my face in one hand, smooshing my cheeks in his fingers. "If you think what you've experienced is HELL, then you have no idea what's in store for you! Be grateful if your child even survives the time before it is born!"

He pushed my chair backwards and I fell with it, hitting the ground with a violent force. I screamed in both pain and fear. I struggled and tried to get up. He merely turned and walked away, leaving me on the floor flailing like a helpless turtle.

He stopped before exiting the room, "Don't expect me to help you with_ anything_ at all; especially if it concerns your devil child."

It took much struggling and flailing around, but I was eventually able to get up off of the floor. I hurried back to my room and once again cried myself to sleep.

Another day gone; another river of tears shed.

**A/N: Soooooo, this story is going to have a weird kind of time warp thingy from now on. "Months" and sometimes "years" will pass between chapters after this chapter. I honestly don't think the story will take more than 10 chapters, but it might. I don't know. Anyway, please review! I love to read and respond to your reviews.**

**P.S. I might bring in a guest character in for the next chapter or twoJ. It's not Christine (or is it…)**


	6. Chapter 6

_I was lying on a couch half-asleep while the TV showed the nightly news. It was about eleven o'clock at night._

_I heard a door open and shut. I sat up a bit to try to see who it was, but the large bump on my stomach restricted me. I lied back down in defeat and closed my eyes again._

_I sensed someone kneel down by the couch. I jumped when I felt the person's hand caress my bump. I opened my eyes and smiled when I saw it was only Chris._

_"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up," he said._

_I shook my head, "It's fine. I wasn't fully asleep anyway."_

_He motioned to my bump, "Is the baby keeping you up?"_

_I nodded, "Yes, a little." I rubbed my bump and smiled, "He's almost ready."_

_He smiled and sat on end of the couch near my feet, which were swollen because of my pregnancy. "You really need to stay off of your feet…" I hear him mutter under his breath. "I'm sorry I'm home so late. There was an emergency and-"_

_"It's fine, Chris," I said cutting him off, "You just started working-"_

_"No. It's not 'fine'. I should be here all of the time, especially with the baby so near."_

_"Chris, I'll be okay. I truly appreciate your concern, though, darling."_

_Flash forward. I was sitting on the same couch in the afternoon. I was holding a sleeping baby while Chris gazed at it, keeping an arm around my shoulders. The baby was beautiful. He had Chris' brown wavy hair, my nose and skin tone, and Chris' freckles. I couldn't tell whose eyes or smile he had because he was sleeping._

_Chris squeezed my shoulder and smiled. "We have a baby now," he said with that awestruck giddiness that all new parents have._

_I smiled back at him and giggled, "Yes, we do. I can't believe it." He took my face in his hands and kissed me._

_The baby yawned in my arms and its little eyelids fluttered open. I pulled away from Chris and turned my attention to the child. I finally saw its eyes. They were big like Chris', but they were still a newborn blue. I was sure they would turn brown like Chris' though. _

_I smiled at it. "Hello, little one," I cooed to him._

_The baby smiled its toothless smile. It had my smile, not Chris'. I looked at Chris, "Would you like to hold him?"_

_Chris nodded and I carefully handed our baby over to him. "Now make sure you always hold him correctly. Always support the head because his neck muscles aren't very strong yet. And always hold him with both hands so you don't-"_

_"-Madeline, I think you forget that I have a medical degree. I know how to hold a newborn baby," he said, cutting my blabbering off._

_I blushed a little. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to be careful with him."_

_"I understand. I'm going to be careful too. There's just no reason for you to worry," he said. I smiled and laid my head on his shoulder._

_Flash forward. I was walking home to our apartment. Chris and the baby were already at home. I walked up the stairs and opened the door to the apartment, but there was nothing there. No people, no furniture, just empty rooms. I looked around everywhere, calling out for Chris and my baby, but there was no answer. I began to cry, thinking they had left me all alone with nothing. Suddenly, the room turned cold and something grabbed me._

I woke up sweating and nearly crying. I sat up in bed, which was hard to do because of my bump.

_"How many months have I been pregnant?"_ I thought to myself. I realized I was over eight months pregnant. I had less than a month 'til I was due. I sighed. I wasn't ready to have to go through the pain of labor alone. I wasn't ready to raise a child on my own. I rubbed my bump and wondered what on earth I would do.

After a minute or two, I heard voices talking somewhere inside the lair! _Voices_! There was somebody else in the lair. I got out of bed and pressed my ear against the wall that the voices seemed to be coming from.

"Really, Erik? Up to your old antics again? I didn't even know that was possible," a man with a heavy accent said.

"Must you be so nosey, Nadir?" Erik's voice said.

_"Nadir! The Persian! Surely he'll help me escape from here!"_ I thought to myself.

"How can I not be nosy? It's all over the papers, 'Young Bride Mysteriously Disappears at Opera House'. The girl's poor husband is worried sick about her!" the other man's voice said.

I smiled. Chris _is_ looking for me!

"Relax, Daroga. It's not like I've killed her or anything," Erik said. I nearly laughed, he certainly hadn't killed me, but he had put me through Hell and back.

"Erik, if you don't send her back up soon-"

"You'll do what, Nadir? Kill me?"

"No. I'll help her escape."

"And what do you suppose she'll say when they ask what happened to her, Nadir? She'll tell the truth and this time they won't think she's crazy! Thanks to that stupid book that Leroux wrote, most of my secrets are out in the open. She'll confirm them and then the press and police will come looking for me."

"You can make her swear never to tell anyone and help her fabricate a different story."

"It won't work! She's a stubborn liar."

"I'm sure the poor girl would do anything if you promised her her freedom."

"I'm doubtful."

"I swear, Erik, you are the evilest and most stubborn bastard I have ever met! No wonder Christine hated you."

There was a tense silence after this comment.

"You're going to regret those words, Daroga," Erik said menacingly.

I heard footsteps coming in the direction of my room. I _knew_ they had to be Nadir's. I went to the door. He was about to pass me! I began to bang my fists against the door, hoping he would notice.

He did, for the footsteps stopped and he began to unlock the door.

When he opened the door and I saw him, I sunk to the ground and began to cry. I hadn't seen another person in nearly a year, not to mention somebody who could help me.

"Daroga! Oh, please help me Daroga. I need my husband. I need to get out of this Hell. Help me get away from this monster! Please, I am with child!" I wailed and groveled at his feet.

"Hush, young lady," he said and helped me stand up. He seemed shocked when he saw my large bump. "I did not know that you are pregnant," he said.

I nodded, tears still falling down my cheeks, and said, "My husband doesn't know. I didn't even know until I felt the first kick about four months ago."

"You're sure this is your husband's child? You're sure that Erik didn't…"

"Erik swears he has never touched me like _that_. This baby is most definitely my husband's."

"That means you are at least eight and a half months pregnant."

I nodded sadly, "I don't know what to do, Daroga. I need you to help me get out of here."

"I'll try my best. You need to sit down and talk to me for a moment first."

I nodded and we sat on the small couch in the room.

"What has Erik done to you since he kidnapped you?" Nadir asked.

"He didn't do anything bad to me for the first few months. In fact, he was quite amiable. But when he found out about my pregnancy, he began to physically and verbally abuse me regularly. He keeps me locked up in here every day until he decides to feed me. He tries to traumatize me by leaving his mask off and waking me up in the middle of the night just to stare at his hideous face. He's very angry at me all of the time now."

He nodded, sympathetic of my situation. "I'm very sorry that he treats you like this. I'm very disappointed in him for hurting you when he knows you are with child."

"He doesn't even care. He said that I 'shouldn't expect him to help me with anything; especially if it concerns my devil child'," I said and began to cry again.

Nadir sighed unhappily. He tried to change the subject somewhat. "Is your child okay?" he asked.

I nodded, "I believe so. It kicks a lot, so I know it's alive. It's kicking right now, actually."

"May I feel it kick?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yes, you may."

He extended his hand and I placed it where my child was kicking. He muttered a few things quietly that I couldn't understand.

When he stopped, I asked him, "What were you mumbling just now?"

"I just prayed for blessings to be poured upon you and your child. I prayed in Farsi so you probably could not understand it," he answered.

"Thank you, Nadir," I said. I was sure we did not share the same religious beliefs, but I still thanked him for his prayer.

"You're welcome. I should go now. You and your child will be in my prayers every day. I will try my best to help you escape," he said and stood up to leave.

"Nadir, wait."

"What is it?"

"Please come back soon. I get very lonely and I like talking to you."

"You have my word; I will come and visit you as often as Erik will allow me."

"Thank you, Daroga. Goodbye," I said and he left.

Erik came to get me to eat only twice that day. He did not beat me. That was probably because we both kept our mouths shut. I didn't cry much that night. I knew that Nadir would help me.

I was finally going to get out of this prison!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Since you guys like Nadir so much, I decided to make this chapter from his point of view. Enjoy.**

Nadir's POV:

I walked into Erik's music room quickly.

"Ah, good morning, Daroga."

"Is she alright?" I asked.

"You mean Madeline? I suppose so. She gave birth this morning," Erik said coolly.

"Erik, do you realize that she could be sick or dying right now?! Childbirth is very dangerous, you know. I lost my own wife because of it…"

He just shrugged, "If she dies, it's not my problem."

I was frustrated with him. How could he be so inconsiderate? "Let me see her."

He rose from the organ, "Fine, Daroga, but this better be the last time you do so. I don't like it when you talk to her. I don't want you to help her escape."

"And what happens if I do come back and help her?"

"I will kill her and the child. Think about it, Daroga. You'd be doing more harm than good."

I shook my head and followed Erik out of the music room and to Madeline's room.

He unlocked the door. "Madeline, you have a visi- Oh good God, cover yourself, child!.. I don't care if you're 'feeding' him… Fine, you have two more minutes, then I'm letting him in and you had better be covered up." He closed the door again.

I stared at him, "Promise me something, Erik."

"What?"

"If there's ever something you can do for them to keep them from dying, do it. If I find out they died and you didn't help them or that you murdered her or the child, I will tell everything I know to the police."

He gritted his teeth and remained silent for a moment. Finally he said, "You have my word, they will not die by my hand."

The two minutes were over and he opened the door. I walked into the room and looked at her. The first thing I noticed about her was that she looked incredibly… weak; even kind of sickly. She was dressed now. She was in her bed and she cradled a small child against her bosom.

"Hello, Madeline," I said kindly.

She looked up at me and smiled, "Hello, Nadir. I was hoping that you would come today."

I sat down on the edge of her bed. "I had the feeling that you needed me to visit today. I guess I was right," I said, motioning to the baby in her arms.

She looked at her little baby, "It's a boy. I named him Peter Lucas Chanatry."

I smiled, "May I hold him?"

She nodded and gently passed the child to me. As soon as I had a safe hold on the boy, he began to cry for his mother. Madeline sighed and held out her arms to take back her baby.

I shook my head, "It's fine, Madeline. I'm just a stranger to him. He'll get used to me in a moment."

As if to prove my point, the little boy began to calm down. He stared up at me and studied my face curiously. He seemed extremely fascinated with my spectacles. He reached his little hand up and grabbed them off of my face. I almost snatched them back, but I realized that he probably couldn't break them since he was only a few hours old. He looked all over them and nearly poked himself in the eye once. I decided to take them away from him. The lenses were smudged, but other than that, they were fine. The boy started to reach out for his mother again, so I handed him back to his mother.

She smiled at her baby boy when he smiled at her. "He looks just like his father. You've seen Chris before haven't you, Nadir?"

I nodded, "Yes, I have seen him and Peter does look like him."

"Is Chris alright?" she asked.

"He's very worried about you. He doesn't look like he sleeps at night and he's extremely emotionally distraught over your disappearance. He won't stop looking for you. It's all over the news."

She began to cry, "I miss him so much… I need him, Daroga; especially now, with this baby. Please help me escape!"

I sighed sadly because I knew I could not help her. "I'll try my best, Madeline. Please don't cry. Here…" I handed her my handkerchief so that she could dry her tears.

She sniffled, "I'm sorry. It's just… I just married him… and he doesn't know his son… and I just love him so much… and I'm so lonely…"

"I understand. It must be very hard for you. I'm sure if Erik had known that you had just gotten married, he wouldn't have kidnapped you."

"Yeah, Erik's totally going to ask a possible captive about her relationship status. Maybe he should get a Facebook," she said sarcastically.

I chuckled slightly. She was done crying, so she tried to hand the handkerchief, which was practically dripping with tears, back to me.

"No, you can keep it. I have many more," I said.

She nodded. "Thank you," she said and yawned.

"Are you tired?"

"No, I'm fine," she said, but her drooping eyelids said differently.

"Madeline, if you're tired, it's perfectly understandable. Childbirth can be extremely exhausting."

"Nadir, I'm not tired."

"You _need _torest. Here, let me hold Peter for you."

"I swear I'm alright."

"You don't understand why you need rest, do you, Madeline? I'll tell you why; if you don't, you could get sick, really sick, and Peter might not have a mother by the end of the week!" I was worried that she would go through what my wife went through before she passed.

I finally had gotten her to listen. "Fine, I'll rest," she said and handed Peter to me. She lied down and pulled the sheets over herself. "Nadir?" she said.

"Yes, what do you need?"

"Nothing, just wake me up if Peter needs me," she said.

"I promise I will wake you if he needs you."

She smiled, rolled over, and closed her eyes.

She was much more tired than I thought! She slept for several hours. I even had to check her breathing a few times to make sure that she was alive. Surprisingly, Peter didn't need her at all. When Peter fell asleep, I decided it was time for me to leave.

I tapped Madeline on her shoulder. She stirred and her eyes slowly opened, "Hmmm? Does Peter need me?"

"No, he's asleep. It's late and I need to go." I whispered and handed Peter to her.

She took him in her arms and a fearful expression came over her face.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" I asked her.

She shook her head, "No, it's just… what if I crush him in my sleep?"

"Nonsense. Here, see how his head fits right in the crook of your arm? Just keep him like that and he'll be fine."

She nodded, "I guess so… Daroga?"

"What?"

"Couldn't you just take Peter with you back to the real world? You could give him to Chris. I just can't raise him down here."

"I can't take him to Chris, Madeline. Chris would ask me where you are and then he'd try to rescue you, which could result in his death and yours. Then Peter would be left an orphan."

She sighed sadly, "I guess I'll just have to raise him down here."

"I'm sorry. I wish things were different. You and Peter will be in my prayers every day."

"Thank you, Nadir."

"Oh, I almost forgot," I said and reached into my coat. I pulled out a small stuffed monkey toy, "This is for Peter when he gets bored."

She smiled, "Thank you, Daroga. I'm sure he'll love it."

"I hope so. Now, I must go. Au revoir, Madeline."

"Au revoir, Nadir. Thank you again for everything."

"You're welcome," I said and left sadly, knowing that this would be the last time I would ever see her.

I made a vow that day to send things to her and Peter every week.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Erik's POV

I watched them sleep through a mirror that night.

I was amazed by how much love Madeline showed to her child even while she slept. She held him so protectively, yet so lovingly. My mother never held me like that. She never even wanted to touch me unless she absolutely had to. I had this tight burning feeling as I watched them. I had only felt this feeling when I watched my Christine interacting with that pompous fop Raoul. What had Nadir said it was? Jealousy? Maybe… but if I didn't care for either of them, why did I feel jealous?

After watching them for a few minutes, the little boy woke up. He began to cry and Madeline woke up.

"What's wrong, my sweet baby?" she said.

"_My mother never talked to me that way. She never cared about me._" I thought to myself.

It took her a moment to figure out that he was hungry. She loosened her nightgown and pulled the top of it down and began to feed her child. I looked away until she was done because I wanted to be a gentleman to her just for once, even she never knew it. I wasn't very proud of the way I had acted toward her when she was with child. My anger seemed very random and spur-of-the-moment. One little stubborn comment from her could make me explode with anger like a stick of dynamite. I was repentant of my behavior, but I would never let her know it. Mainly because if I apologized, then she would win; she would get what she wanted. I couldn't let that happen. Erik always wins; Erik always gets what he wants, except for once, but that was for the best.

At least I thought it was.

I remember the headline that morning, "Christine Daaé and the Viscomte de Chagny found dead in home". The article read that the couple had been murdered as a result of a robbery gone wrong. I knew better than to believe that. I snuck onto the crime scene and took one look at my sweet Christine's dead body. I knew almost instantly that the Viscomte had beaten her to death and then committed suicide out of guilt. Christine's wounds were much worse than Raoul's; hers consisted of many bruises and stabs and some faded scars while his only consisted of a single stab wound through the heart. I left as soon as I figured out what happened. I went home and began to cry for my Christine. She was so young. She hadn't even had children yet. I wanted to be dead in her place. She had never done anything wrong to anyone; she didn't deserve death, I did. I was so overcome by this emotion that I went out to the lake and threw myself into its murky waters. I breathed in the water.

"_This is for you, Christine. The last sin I shall ever commit is for you!_" was my last thought before I blacked out.

When I woke up, I felt lighter. I swam up to the surface and coughed the water out of my lungs. I lied on the banks of the lank and groaned in misery at the thought of another failed suicide attempt. After a while, I stood up and began to walk back to my lair, but something in the lake caught my eye. I walked over to it and noticed it was the dead body of a man! I turned the body over to look at the face and I gasped. It was _me! _I smiled; I had died. Then something hit me, if I was dead, was I in Heaven or Hell? I came to the realization that I wasn't in either place and I was a ghost. I remembered that ghosts only exist if they have unfinished business to complete. I didn't think there was anything that I needed to do. There was my _Don Juan Triumphant_ that still needed to be completed, but surely God doesn't care about earthly compositions.

To this day, I still don't know why I am a ghost, but I have a feeling I will find out soon.

**A/N: Thought I'd give some clarification as to what the Hell Erik is. So yeah, he's a ghost and so is Nadir and all of the book/musical characters.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm sorry, I have to change the rating to M because an event at the end of this chapter. Also, I have become emotionally attached to this story. I started crying whilst writing this chapter. I love all of the reviews that I am receiving. Thank you and Enjoy :)**

Chapter 9: Madeline's POV

Living in the lair was absolute Hell for Peter and me.

Let's start with the topic of food. After Peter was born, Erik began to feed me smaller amounts of food. I began to lose weight at a regular rate, which was a bit alarming because I was already tiny to begin with. Sure, being pregnant with Peter did make me gain some weight, but I lost it within a few weeks of his birth.

I tried to breastfeed Peter as long as I could, but by the time he was 3, I decided he needed to have _real_ food. When I asked Erik to give Peter some food every day, he said no. I was upset by his answer, yet I wasn't surprised. I had learned to stop expecting Erik to give a damn about Peter. I decided I would have to take food from my own plate and sneak it to Peter. It took me a while to get used to the idea of having even _less_ food than ever for myself, but once I did, I was more than willing to do it. I didn't mind starving to death for my child. In fact, I made sure that Peter got _twice_ as much as I did. I always took one bite for myself and saved two for Peter.

Peter grew like any normal child while my body gradually shrank over the years until I practically looked like a skeleton with a thin layer of skin stretched around it. I felt quite weak and ugly most of the time. I would look at myself in the mirror before I bathed and cry. I looked and felt several years older than I actually was. Anyone who looked at me could tell that I had once been beautiful and healthy, but that my beauty and health had deteriorated dramatically since. I was afraid that even if I was reunited with Chris, he wouldn't love me anymore because of how I looked. Peter, of course, thought that I was pretty, but I was his mother and basically the only person he had ever seen.

Nadir sent clothes, toys, and basically anything Peter needed every week. Peter actually was a somewhat spoiled child until his older years. Erik was so mean to him, though. He couldn't stand the sight of Peter. He liked to pretend that Peter wasn't there, although that wasn't always very easy.

I'll _NEVER_ forget what Erik did when Peter was teething. Of all the things Nadir sent to us, a pacifier and a teething ring were not, unfortunately, amongst them. Peter was having a very difficult and painful time with the last few teeth that were coming in. He would cry all of the time and try to gnaw on anything that could settle his pain. There wasn't much for him that was safe to gnaw on, so I had to result to letting him chew on my finger. One day, it was becoming painful for me when he gnawed on my finger and he was growing tired of chewing on it too. He cried and screamed and cried and screamed and I couldn't do anything for him except try to hold and comfort him and ease his pain.

"It will be okay, Peter. Just calm down and the pain will be gone soon... Please be quiet, Peter! Erik will get mad..!"

As if on cue, Erik barged into my room, fuming with anger and annoyance.

"WHY THE HELL WON'T HE SHUT UP! I'M _TRYING_ TO WORK, BUT I CAN'T WITH YOUR DEMON CHILD SCREAMING LIKE THIS!" he screamed at me.

He then curled his fingers into fists and began to beat me fiercely while I screamed and pleaded with him to stop. Peter somehow was removed from my arms while Erik was beating me and so he began to cry even louder than before. Erik's fury reached its climax and he raised his fists and turned to Peter.

I laid cowering in fear and struggling to draw breath. My eyes widened in fear when I realized that he was going to hurt my baby. My maternal instincts kicked in a moment too late. Erik hit Peter and Peter began to scream louder, but I gathered enough strength to jump in front of Erik's fists before he could strike Peter again. This action earned me several more beatings, but I didn't care; I had saved my child from more pain. When Erik finally finished and stormed away, Peter was still wailing and I was crying from the beatings.

I picked my son up and held him close to me. I rocked back and forth, cradling him in my arms, and said, "I'm so sorry, my sweet baby. I _hate_ him. I wish we weren't here. I wish we were with your daddy; he would never hurt us," I began to cry harder, missing Chris more than ever, "H-He would love you more than a-anything in the world. He would rush home j-just to play with you… Y-You look just like him. You'll b-be so handsome when you g-grow up…" I stuttered on and on about Chris to Peter. It felt nice to know that, if I ever escaped, I would have such an amazing man waiting for me… if he would still love me…

There was another incident where Erik was mean to Peter. It happened when Peter was a little over two years old. He was sitting on the floor, playing with his favorite toy, the stuffed monkey that Nadir had bought for Peter on the day he was born. Erik walked into the room, yelling at me about God knows what.

He spied the stuffed animal that Peter was playing with. "Where did he get that?" he asked angrily.

"Nadir gave that to him on the day he was born," I said, trying to sound calm.

"I told Nadir not to give the boy any toys!" I heard him mutter. He violently yanked the monkey out of Peter's little hands and ripped the monkey's head off. He then threw the toy to the ground and stomped on it.

I'll never forget seeing my child's heart break like it did that day. Peter's little lip quivered and his big brown eyes filled with tears. "…Missr Mon-ee…" he said, trying to say "Mr. Monkey", which is what he had named the toy. He began to sob and toddled over to the ruined remains of his favorite toy.

I rushed over to Peter and hugged him while he cried. I was furious at Erik's behavior! "You _MONSTER_! You can't let anybody be happy, can you?! Get out!" I yelled at Erik.

"Gladly!" he spat out at me and stormed away.

Aside from my regular beatings and verbal fights with Erik, I began to fear that he would abuse me in the worst way possible. I would wake up in the middle of the night to find Erik's wandering hands hovering over or near my waist or breasts. He would apologize under his breath whenever I caught him and he would leave my room. I became very alarmed when I began to see his visible want for me. I prayed that God would save me from being the victim of such a crime; the worst crime a woman can experience.

My worst fear became a reality one night.

I woke up in the middle of the night to find him lying on top of me. I didn't know what was happening until I felt him part my thighs and thrust into me. I realized that I was in Erik's room on his bed and I was nude beneath him. His hands groped my breasts and his lips pressed against mine. I wanted to scream out and fight him off of me.

He must have sensed my anger, for he said, "Don't you even dare try anything stupid. Be a good girl and lie still and be quiet. It will be over soon as long as you obey me."

I didn't have much of a choice; I had to obey him. And with every passing second, I loathed him more and more. _"Why, God? Why do you let this happen to me?"_ I thought as tears slipped down my cheeks.

When he was done, he gave my clothes back to me and I quickly dressed. He followed me as I ran back to my room. I slammed the door in his face.

"Madeline, I'm sorry."

"No you're not. Why did you do this to me?"

"I hope you can forgive-"

"I can't, Erik. I hate you too much."

He must have left, for he didn't say anything else.

"Mommy? What's going on?" Peter said. I had woken him up when I slammed the door.

I sighed, "Nothing, Peter. Go back to sleep."

"Mom-"

"I said go back to sleep, Peter," I said, more bitterly than I had intended.

He did as I said and tried to go back to sleep. I sighed and walked over to his bedside, "I'm sorry for my tone, Peter. Something did happen, but it's beyond your understanding so I would appreciate it if you would not ask any questions. Perhaps I'll tell you someday, but not today. Now, give mommy a hug and a kiss goodnight."

He sat up, hugged me, and kissed my cheek like he did every night, "Goodnight, mommy, and I'm sorry for whatever happened between you and Mr. Erik."

I nodded and fixed the hair that had fallen in his face, "It will be okay. Goodnight, Peter. Sleep well and dream sweet dreams," I said and walked to my side of the bed and crawled in.

I didn't go to sleep. I stayed up and waited for my prince charming to come rescue me from this dungeon, my angel to rescue me from this Hell.

I cried, knowing that he would never find me.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Erik's POV

Why was acting like this?! How did I feel about Madeline?

I hate emotions. They're too confusing for even _me_ to understand.

Was it jealousy? Hate? Dare I say it; love?

No, certainly not love. I only loved Christine.

Perhaps this was a new kind of emotion that I was unfortunate enough to discover. It had caused me to go against everything I swore never to do; things I had promised that I would never do to her.

I'm quite a mad man. I always have been.

I do not know why I was so bad-tempered toward her. I knew why I disliked the child; he was a reminder of how she lied to me. Of course, she wasn't fully at fault for the child; it was the child's father who should be punished, and, according to Daroga, I had caused him a lot of suffering with the loss of his wife.

Still, I didn't know how I felt about Madeline. I didn't know what came over me when I tried to communicate with her. Now she despised me and my awful behavior was to blame. I had not intended for her to grow to hate me, though I do tend to get that reaction from most people, but I hadn't expected her to love me, either. I had hoped she wouldn't mind living down here; that she would just be a good girl and deal with this inconvenience.

I honestly think I might have been possessed. That was how odd I thought my behavior toward Madeline was.

Of course, I couldn't be possessed. Ghosts can't be possessed. Can I possess myself? Does that even make any sense? No, of course not. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Nothing ever did.

-oOoOo-

I remember sitting at my organ with my head in my hands that night.

"Erik?" she said.

I recognized the voice immediately. It brought tears to my eyes. I turned to face her. My eyes beheld a sight I had wished to see for more than a century.

"Christine…" was all I could manage to say.

We were embracing each other in a flash. "I'm sorry," I said.

"For what?" she asked.

"For the way you died. I should never have let you go with Raoul."

"You _know_?" she asked, a bit surprised.

I nodded, "It was quite obvious to me that he murdered you."

"Oh, Erik, I wish I had stayed here. Things started to go wrong right after our honeymoon."

"What happened?"

"Many things happened. I think the biggest disappoint to him was when we found out that I wasn't able to have children. He changed after that. He became a drunkard. He was drunk when he hurt me and he was drunk when he killed me."

I shook my head, "I'm so sorry."

We hugged each other for a long time before she said, "Erik, you should know why I'm really here."

I nodded and led her to the nearby couch. She smoothed out her skirts and dragged her fingers carelessly over the back of my hand, "This is serious, Erik. You probably won't like what I have to say, but all I ask is that you listen."

I nodded, "Anything for you, my Christine."

She took a deep breath. "Nadir found me and told me that you're keeping Madeline Chanatry down here against her will. I can't believe you, Erik. You should have seen her family's reaction when she went missing. Her parents were extremely upset, but her husband… he was, and still is, an emotional train wreck. Did you they had been married for less than a day when you kidnapped her? That's pure torture for both of them. He won't rest until he finds her, but she's been gone for so long that it seems like everyone but he has lost all hope. Do you realize how long you've kept her down here? _14 years_, Erik, almost 15 years now. Nadir also told me the poor girl gave birth to a _son _here! He told me how horribly you've treated her even when she was with child. Erik, I thought you were better than this."

I hung my head in shame, repentant for the first time about kidnapping Madeline. "I'm sorry, Christine. You're right; I should be better than this. But you can't expect me to just send her back up now. She'll tell the world about me and they will believe her this time."

"Erik, you _have_ to. It's the right thing to do. If you won't do it for her, do it for me, please?"

I thought over what she had said for a long time. "I'll do it on one condition."

"What is it?"

"Think of it as a sort of exchange; I'll send her back up, but _you_ have to stay. I promise not to treat you like I treated her, but you must stay here and be mine forever."

She responded quickly with an answer that I hadn't expected. Without hesitating for even a moment, she said, "Yes, I'll do it as long as you don't go back on your word."

I nodded, "I promise. You know you have my word. I'll send her back in three weeks' time." I remembered something and became excited. I smiled and took her hand, "Come with me. I need to show you something in my study."

My "study" was more like a lab of sorts. It served my inventive and scientific ideas. I had invented anything my mind came up with. One of these things I called "The Impossible Potion". Not like the magical potions, it was a medicinal potion, although it did the impossible so it seemed like magic.

"This, my dear," I began, "can bring the dead back to life and give them new flesh. I don't have much of it, only enough for two people, but we can use it. We can live together like we always wanted to! I might even be handsome with my new flesh!" I said excitedly. This was my life's, or should I say "death's", work. It had taken me a long time to make what little of it I had, but when one has been dead for nearly 150 years, you find enough time to do the impossible.

Christine looked at me with an unsure and sort of sad look on her face. "What's wrong, my dear? Don't you like it?" I asked.

She picked at lace on her dress absentmindedly, "Oh, yes, I like it. It's just… I'm not sure I want to cheat fate and live."

"Why not? It would be so easy, you know. All our dreams could come true just from drinking this!"

She nodded, "I know… It's complicated… Just ask me again in a few weeks, when you release Madeline. Speaking of whom, may I see her? I would like to speak with her."

I nodded. "I'll bring her to the Louis-Phillipe room."

I went to Madeline's room and fetched her without either of us saying a word. She did cough a few times and that caused a small amount of concern from me. I dragged her into the room. Christine was sitting on the couch, waiting for Madeline. I saw a brief flash of sheer concern and surprise pass over Christine's face when she saw Madeline's tiny body, but it quickly turned into one of her kind, gentle, reassuring smiles. I left the room, but I watched the entire conversation from behind a mirror.

"Hello, Madeline," Christine said in her sweet, soft voice.

Madeline managed a weak smile, "Forgive me, who are you?"

Christine chuckled, "I am Christine Daaé."

Madeline looked a bit shocked, but kept her smile, "Hello, Christine."

"Come, sit next to me. I would like to talk to you."

Madeline obeyed and sat next to Christine. She fidgeted with her long blonde hair absentmindedly. "What do you need to talk about?" she asked.

"You… Madeline, you've been down here for a very long time. Do you know how long you've been down here?"

Madeline nodded, "14 years, 11 months, and 9 days."

Christine chuckled again, "I see you've been counting the days."

"Yes; counting the days until I get out of this Hell." Madeline said. She drooped her head a little and she looked like she was about to cry.

Christine noticed and this and hugged Madeline. Christine nodded, "I know, you've had a hard time here. I hope I've talked some sense into Erik… Would you like to hear about your husband?"

Madeline pulled out of the hug, her eyes tearstained. "Yes, please. How is he?"

"He's alright, Madeline. He's working as a doctor here in Paris. He won't leave the country until he finds you. He's the only one that hasn't given up on finding you. Everyone, even your closest friends and family, think your dead, except for your husband of course. He has, however, turned into an emotional wreck. Whenever he talks about you, he can't help but cry. You married a good man, Madeline. I've never seen a man show this much love for his wife."

Madeline smiled, but soon began to cry for him again. Christine hugged and comforted her, but never said a word about Madeline being able to leave soon. The conversation was over soon and I came back to take Madeline back to her room.

After I put Madeline back in her room, I went back to Christine.

"You had better be nice to her in these last few weeks, Erik. If you put her through more of this _connerie_, I'm not going to stay with you for long."

I nodded, "Anything for you, my sweet, beautiful, dear Christine."

She blushed a little at my comment. Then she did something that I hadn't expected. She _kissed_ me! _She_ kissed _me_. I slid my arms around her waist and reminisced about the last time she had kissed me. That kiss had felt rather piteous, but this felt like a real, loving kiss.

She pulled away first. Honestly, I wanted to just keep her in my arms and kiss her until time stopped. "Goodbye, Erik," she said as she removed my hands from her waist.

I was shocked and elated from the kiss. "Goodbye, Christine. I shall see you soon."

She began to walk away, but I couldn't bring myself to let her go so quickly. No, not before I told her about my feelings. "Christine, wait."

She turned around, "Yes, Erik?"

I gulped. "I love you… very much."

She hesitated nervously for a few minutes before she finally said quietly, "I love you, too."

I smiled, half-dazed as I watched her leave. She said she loves me!

I fell asleep a happy man that night.

**A/N: I hope this answers some of your questions. Thank you for all of the reviews! I hope you've enjoyed the phanfic so far.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: WARNING: This chapter may cause severe crying and loss of hope; but, mon petite croissants, when there's a will, there's a way…**

Chapter 11: Peter's POV

Mother often fell ill while we lived under Erik's roof. Every time she did, he would take her away and then return her when she was well again. Mother said she never knew exactly where he took her or what he did because he gave her a sleeping drug. She said that all she knew were the flashes of images of a white room and waking up on the couch in the Louis-Philippe room. I suppose the reason mother was sick so often was because she was so tiny and malnourished. I tried to make her eat some of the food that she gave me, but she always said, "No, Peter. I don't care if I starve to death as long as you get enough to eat." No matter how sick she got, she would always recover miraculously.

But on that particular morning, she was sicker than ever.

It started out as a bad cough. Erik and I didn't worry too much about it until it became worse, much worse.

We took notice of her serious illness when one morning, she almost didn't wake up. She just lied there; her eyes rolled back in her head, and wouldn't budge no matter how hard we shook her. We tried everything we could to wake her up, but nothing happened. Erik left the room, shaking his head and frowning. She was alive and breathing, just unconscious. I started to cry, thinking I would lose her. I held her hand and checked her pulse and breathing every few minutes. Suddenly, she jolted awake and broke into a violent coughing fit. I got her a handkerchief and patted her back, trying to help her get the coughs out. Her coughs became more violent and rapid to the point where she could barely breathe at all. The handkerchief started to become stained with blood. That's when I became really frightened for her. Erik finally became aware that she was awake and rushed into the room. She continued coughing up blood until she suddenly just collapsed back onto her pillow. She groaned out in misery. Erik and I exchanged a glance that said we had no idea what was happening to her. I was frozen with fear. Her eyelids were droopy and she held the handkerchief limply against her lips. Erik picked her up and carried her out of the room. I tried to follow them, but Erik shut the door and locked it before I was able to leave the room. I kicked the wall in frustration; my own mother could be dying and I couldn't be beside her, holding her hand through her misery.

It was several days before Erik brought her back, and even then she hadn't recovered at all. If anything, she had gotten worse. She could talk though; she certainly could talk.

I remember hearing their muffled voices in what sounded like an argument. Their voices became louder and louder until I could hear them very clearly.

"Why don't you just die already?!" I heard Erik's voice yell.

"Ha, I wish! Then I could get away from _you_!" I head my mother retort.

"You know what, I'm done taking care of you!" he yelled.

Soon after, Erik violently pushed the door open and threw my mother down on her bed. He was irate because of my mother. I was on the other opposite side of the bed in an instant and glared at him as he raised his fist, threatening to hit my mother. There was a tense silence between the two of us. We stared each other down, him not believing I was daring to stand in the way of his anger and I not wanting to believe that he wanted to hit my mother when she was so sick and weak. Eventually, I won and he left the room.

I sat down by her side and gave her a reassuring smile. She was very pale and weak. She held a new handkerchief, but this one was already stained with blood. She broke into another terrible coughing fit. This one didn't last very long, but she turned and looked at me with sad eyes afterwards.

"We need to talk about what you need to do when I die," she said weakly.

I shook my head, "Please, don't talk like that."

"Peter, my handsome boy, I'm just too weak. I can't keep up this fight for much longer," she said, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.

I didn't want to believe her, but I knew she was right. I stayed silent for a moment. I finally sighed and said, "What do you need to tell me?"

"Never stop trying to get out. Don't let Erik treat you horribly. Be respectful, but be firm and never let him make you stay here. Take the first chance you get. When you get out, look for a man named Christopher Chanatry. You know who he is, right?"

I nodded, "Mr. Chanatry is my father."

She smiled weakly, probably reminiscing over the days she shared with my father. She always told me that he was an amazing man. She nodded, "Yes. Find him and tell him about everything that happened. If he doesn't believe that you are his son, dare him to test it. The test will definitely prove that you are his and my son and he'll know that you couldn't have made any of this up."

I nodded. "I get it." Tears began to form in my eyes as I thought about having to live without my mama. She opened her arms and hugged me. I tried my best to be strong, to be the man and not cry.

"Would you like me to sing for you?" she asked.

I nodded. I rested my head over her stomach as she began to sing a song that she said she and my father loved. She ran her fingers through my hair in a motherly gesture. I let a few tears fall down onto her dress. She was about halfway through the song when she had a small coughing fit. "Mother, you don't have to sing if you can't breathe."

She shook her head, "No, I want to sing, Peter."

I shrugged and she continued. She sang through the song and another until she began to struggle with getting the words out on the third. My heart stopped for a horrible moment as I felt her stomach rise and fall with her very last breath. I lifted my head to look at her. She was limp now and her eyes were closed. I checked her pulse and breathing one more time to make sure that she really was dead.

She was. And I didn't want to believe it.

I kissed her dead cheek and hid myself away in a corner. My logic in this was that maybe if I hid myself away, all of this wouldn't be real and it would be a nightmare when I woke up in the morning. Sadly, it just wasn't possible.

-oOoOo-

When Erik came in to check on mama, I was already awake. He knew something was wrong when he saw me in the corner.

"What happened?" he asked.

"She's dead," I said quietly.

He rushed to her and checked her pulse and breathing. He shook his head and frowned. "No. She can't be dead."

"Yes, she is. She's gone and there's nothing anyone can do about it. She may be dead, but at least she's finally free from you, free from this prison! That's all she ever wanted, you know; just to get out of here. She had to die just so she could leave because you are so mean! You complain how God was so unfair in cursing with ugliness and genius and that you are like an angel in Hell, but I think you're a demon in Hell and mother is the real angel! The real angel in Hell!" I said, a mixture of anger and sadness rising up in me. I felt like Erik was to blame for my mother's death.

He just shook his head. We stood in silence for a moment before he finally said, "Well, she at least deserves a funeral. Get dressed in your nicest clothes. I'll come back for you in a moment." He picked up mother's limp body and left the room.

I did as I was told and got dressed in my best clothes. Soon Erik came back and took me to a beautiful room where mother lay on a couch. She looked so peaceful at last, like a huge burden had been lifted from here shoulders. Her long blonde hair had been braided the day before, but it was now loose and knotted. She was still wearing her white night gown. I just stared at her, not wanting to believe that she was dead. I didn't cry; I didn't want Erik to think I was weakened because of her death.

He coughed awkwardly, "This was, um, your mother's favorite room, the Louis-Philippe room. Whenever she roamed around the house, I would find her here. She thought it was so beautiful in here." I nodded. Mother had talked about this room before. We stood in silence again. "I'm sorry," he said and walked out of the room.

Soon I heard sad, yet beautiful music coming from the organ in the music room. I walked over to mother and knelt down beside her. I knew Erik wouldn't hear me if I cried. I threw my arms around her and sobbed and screamed into her dress. I was letting all of my emotion go. Why did she have to die? She never did anything wrong to anybody, besides making unnecessary, stubborn comments. She was so young, barely even 37 I believe. I felt like an orphan, though I knew my father was out in the world somewhere, looking for her. He could even have been right above my head as I cried for his late wife, my mother. I wept for her for a long time until I fell asleep.

-oOoOo-

**Chapter 11 part 2: Erik's POV**

When I finished playing Madeline's requiem, I came back to check on the boy. He was asleep, his arms clinging to his dead mother while his head rested over her stomach. I sighed; I actually felt sorry for him. I knew what it was like to lose a mother. I chuckled slightly at the irony that my mother's name was Madeline as well. I picked up the boy and carried him back to his room, setting him down on his bed. I walked back to the Louis-Philippe room and placed a red rose in Madeline's hands. I felt very guilty for the way I had treated her. I let one tear fall for her; just one, no more.

A few moments later, I felt a dainty little hand touch my arm. I turned quickly to see who it was. It was Christine. I realized today was the end of the three weeks and I was supposed to send Madeline and Peter back to the world today. I hung my head, knowing I had broken one of the few promises I had intended to keep.

"Erik, what happened? Why is she dead?" Christine asked.

"She became very ill a few days after you talked to her. The boy and I had no idea what was wrong with her. I tried to maintain her illness for as long as I could, but the sickness became too strong for the medicine," I responded.

She sighed, "Poor girl…" she paused for a moment, then said, "Erik, you know what you must do."

I thought for a moment, having no idea what she meant. When I realized what she wanted me to do, I shook my head, "Christine, I'm not wasting it on her."

"You will or else I'm not staying."

I cursed beneath my breath, "Fine."

"And the boy, you will send him back up tonight."

I gritted my teeth, "Fine."

She smiled, "That's my angel." Then she gave me a short, sweet kiss that got me to smile.

-oOoOo-

**Chapter 11 part 3: Peter's POV**

I woke up in a smelly alleyway smushed between two buildings. It was obviously night outside. I heard lots of different noises and people… People?! Had Mr. Erik really sent me up to the real world? I stood up and wondered around. People bustled around me and odd machines moved on a floor of black hard stuff with yellow and white lines.

I really didn't know what to do. I walked around aimlessly, getting strange looks from people. I decided to go to the other side of the street. I walked right in front of one moving machine and people started shouting at me. I stopped in the middle of the street, confused, and one of the moving machines almost ran into me. Two men in particular ran toward me. They wore dark uniforms that had "POLICE" written on the side.

_"Es-tu fou? Vous auriez pu être tué!"_ they yelled in French. I knew French; they had said "Are you insane? You could have been killed!", but I preferred English.

"No, I'm not insane. Could you please speak in English?" I asked.

"Sorry. What in the world are you doing?" one of them said.

I didn't really know what I was doing, but then I remembered what mother had told me to do. "I'm looking for a man name Christopher Chanatry. Do you know him?"

They nodded. "Yes, we see him almost every day. Why do you need to see him?"

"He's my father."

They looked puzzled. "How? Who's your mother?"

"My mother is Madeline Chanatry."

Their eyes widened and they exchanged a glance with each other. "Come with us," one said, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards a machine that had "POLICE" written on the side. They told me the machine was called a "car" when I asked them what it was.

They drove the "car" to a building they called a "Police Station". They began to shower me with questions and I did my best to answer them. When they finished they told me to wait in the office they had taken me to while they made a phone call.

I smiled. I was going to meet my dad.

**A/N: Poor Peter, he's never seen a car before XD. Hmmmm I wonder what Erik doesn't what to waste on Madeline? How is Chris going to respond when he finds out he has a son? Hmmmm... HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Chris' POV

I unlocked the door to my apartment after another long day at work. It was very late at night; almost midnight. There had been no change in Madeline's investigation, as always. I sighed as I checked my messages on my phone again, just in case the police had called and I had missed it, but nothing was there. I called Madeline's phone, just to hear her voice on the automatic message. I had been paying her phone bill for the past several years just for this purpose. I called every night, sometimes leaving a message that she wouldn't hear. I missed her so much.

I took off my coat and slumped down on the couch. I was feeling especially sad and lonely tonight, but I didn't know why. I hate to admit it, but I had fallen into severe depression again. It was because Madeline wasn't here to keep me out of it. She had saved me out of it once. That was how I fell in love with her. I really don't know what made her take a liking to me. She says she thought I was one of the nicest people she had ever met. I don't know how she got that from bumping into me one time. I certainly did not look like a kind person.

Maybe it was what people call "love at first sight". Neither of us knew that we would fall in love with the other when we met. She actually had a boyfriend at the time, but he treated her horribly. They were total opposites. She told me she hated him but that she was stuck in their relationship; she couldn't break up with him or else "bad things" would happen to her, she said. Anyway, he got into trouble at a party and was shot and killed. Terrible thing, I know. The worst part was that Madeline was caught in the middle of all of it. No, she hadn't planned the murder or pulled the trigger, but the detectives made her the key witness to it all. I helped her through the difficult time and within a few weeks after the case was closed, we had started dating. Then a few years passed and we got married.

But that all changed in a few hours.

I remember the panicked call from Katie. She said Madeline had walked into a dressing room and never came out. She had searched the room from top to bottom, but she was nowhere to be found. I thought she was insane… until I saw it for myself. The police thought that Katie had kidnapped Madeline, but I knew Katie would never do that. Besides, they couldn't find any evidence or a motive. It was a very mysterious case. The best explanation the police could come up with was that either a man was waiting in the dressing room and kidnapped here and took her through the secret passageways or she had wandered into one of them herself and gotten lost. The second explanation was ruled out after she had been missing for over two weeks.

It was just such an impossible case. It was hopeless; just hopeless. Everyone thought she was dead, but I wouldn't let her go that easily, no. I made sure people were searching for her at all times. But now nobody would help unless something unusual happened.

I began to believe she was dead.

I wanted to end it all.

Not the investigation; my life.

I stood up and walked to the kitchen, deciding what to use. I decided to use a knife to my chest. I sat down in a chair and picked up my phone to call Madeline one last time.

Tears began to fall as I spoke. "Hi, Madeline. You'll never hear this message, but I want you to know that I miss you… a lot… I need you, Madeline. I've been diagnosed with severe depression since your disappearance. I'm so lonely without you. Everyone thinks you're dead and I'm beginning to believe them. If heaven is where you are, then that's where I want to be. So, this is goodbye, Madeline… or maybe it's hello again. Either way, I want you to know that I never moved on to any other women. I always loved you and only you. I miss you, Madeline. If you're not dead, please give me a sign before it's too late. I love you… I love you… I love you." I hung up the phone.

I picked up the blade and pointed the blade to my chest. _"Please, Madeline, give me a sign and I'll stop. I promise."_

Right then, my phone rang.

I looked at the number.

It was the police.

I picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Chris, it's the police. We need you to get to the station immediately."

"Why?"

"Long story, but it has to do with Madeline."

I was shocked. This was the sign! I stood up, "Oh my God, I'll be there ASAP."

I hung up the phone and grabbed my coat and shoes. I put them on as I rushed to my car. I started the car. _"Dear God, please let her be alive. Please, please, please let her be alive!"_ I prayed.

-oOoOo-

I pushed open the door to the police station and rushed in. One officer was already waiting for me.

"What's going on? What happened?" I said quickly.

"Calm down and come with me," he said. I nodded and followed him to an office.

When I entered, an officer was questioning a boy who looked like he was 13 or 14. The officer stood up and shook my hand. "Hello, Mr. Chanatry. Please, sit down," he said motioning to the chair next to the young boy.

I slunk down in the chair, "Why am I here and what does this have to do with my Madeline?"

"Chris, please, calm down. Now, I would like you to meet Peter," he said motioning to the boy.

I looked at the boy. There was something about the boy that seemed very familiar. "Hello, Peter," I said and extended my hand for him to shake.

"H-Hello, Mr. Chanatry," he said and shook my hand, looking at me with awe and excitement in his eyes. He obviously knew something that I didn't.

I turned back to the officer. "Ok, I met him. Now, can you answer my questions?"

The officer chuckled. "We will, but you won't believe us."

I sighed, "At this point in the investigation, I'm willing to believe anything."

"Well, Chris, Peter is your son."

I swear that if I had been drinking something, I would have done a spit-take. "What?! How is that even possible?"

"You had, um, relations with Madeline on your wedding night, did you not?"

I nodded, "But that was the only time and I never did it with any other woman."

"Well, it only takes one time, Chris. Peter claims to be the son of you and Madeline."

I looked at the boy and realized that he looked exactly like me, but he had some of Madeline's features. Peter and I stared at each other for a while before the officer said, "Um, Peter, would you like to tell Chris about what happened?"

The boy nodded, "Yes, but I would prefer to do it privately."

"You know what, officer? I think I'll take him home. Now that I've had a good look at him, I realize that he does look a lot like me. I don't doubt that he's my son. He can tell me when we get home," I said.

I'm pretty sure that's not how they expected me to react, but they still let me take him home.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Chris' POV

I sat on the couch with my head in my hands. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "So you're saying that Madeline was kidnapped by 'Erik', taken to his underground lair, gave birth to you, suffered through a horrific 15 years, and died from a mysterious illness?" I asked quietly, trying to fight back the tears.

"Yes… I'm sorry. I wish I had a different story to tell," Peter said.

"Don't apologize. You've been through some crap as well, haven't you?"

"Yeah… Mr. Chanatry?"

"Please, call me Chris… or Dad if you want to."

"Mama would want me to call you 'Dad'. Anyway, Dad, I found this note in my pocket while we were in the car. I haven't really read it, but I've skimmed over it and I think you should read it," he said and held out a folded piece of paper.

I unfolded the piece of paper. It was written in red ink and was addressed to Peter. "It's addressed to you. I think you should read it."

He shook his head. "You can read it out loud."

I sighed and began to the letter aloud.

"Peter,

I trust that by the time you read this letter, you are in the care of some officers or a family member; perhaps even your father. I understand how upset you must be about your mother. If you would like to retrieve her, meet me at the alley next to the opera house on February 18th at 11:00 pm sharp. You may bring one person with you as I don't expect you to be able to carry Madeline alone. Again, I am very sorry.

-Erik"

I looked at Peter. "February 18th is tomorrow. I'm assuming you want to go get her, right?"

He nodded, "Of course."

I smiled, "Good. Now, I don't know if your mother gave you a bed time, but what I do know it that it is long past that time and you should to be asleep right now. I can take the couch or you can take the couch, I don't care as long as you're comfortable… _son_."

He smiled and said that he would sleep on the couch. I gave him some of my night clothes to change into since he didn't have anything. Then I gave him some blankets and a pillow and got myself ready for bed.

I thought about all that had happened in the last hour and a half. I couldn't believe that I had had a son all of these years. I couldn't believe Madeline and I had made a baby on our first night. I remembered what Madeline had said during our conversation in the cab, "I think this is a new world record; going from my boyfriend, to my fiancé, to my husband in about an hour." Neither of us knew that I would have been able to add more to that the next day. I wondered about how she felt when she found out. No doubt she was terrified, but was she excited to have my baby so suddenly? Did she even want to have a child in the first place? We had talked about it a little, but she had never come right out and said, "Yes, Chris, I want to have babies with you." I wished that she was here with Peter and I. I was sure that she was looking down on Peter and me from heaven, smiling, but wishing she could be with us too.

I began to cry for her again. I just wanted to be able to hold her in my arms again. I wanted to enjoy having a family with her. I wanted to be able to do everything that we had missed out on in the past several years. I wanted to take her out to dinner on our date nights. I wanted to buy her things on special occasions. I wanted to come home from work every day to see her smiling face and kiss her. I wanted to hear her singing around the house. I wanted to feel her body next to mine while we slept. I wanted to make love to her at night. Most of all, I just wanted make her happy again. I just wanted to know that wherever she was or whatever she was doing; she loved her life and enjoyed every minute of it.

But now it was too late. I couldn't have that. I wished I could reverse time to the last morning I saw her and told her not to go. I should've told her to stay when I had the chance.

I made it my mission to give her the best funeral that I could give. She would be remembered by everyone.

-oOoOo-

Peter and I arrived at the alley next to the opera house at 10:58 pm. We had only 2 minutes of waiting ahead of us. It was especially cold that night, perhaps God made it that way to accentuate the somber scene that was about to take place. I didn't know what I would do when I saw Madeline. How is one supposed to react to seeing their wife dead after searching for her for the past 15 years? Peter told me that he might cry. I probably would too, but I didn't know if it would be just a few sobs or if I would go into hysterics. 10:59, one minute left; I guessed I would find out in a few seconds.

11:00 sharp. I saw a shadowy figure of a man quickly approach and set Madeline in my arms before hurrying away as quickly as he came. I didn't care much for the man, though, as I stared at my poor little Madeline.

She was so skinny, like Peter had told me. Her hair was very long now and she was wearing a thin white night gown. I stared at her pale face for a while before I sunk to my knees on the ground.

I cradled her in my arms as though she were a small child. I basically went into hysterics. I cried and cried and I wanted to scream, but I didn't want to attract a lot of attention to myself. Instead I just whispered into her dress what I wanted so desperately to scream to the heavens, "Dear God, why did you have to let her die? She was so young, God. I loved her! I still love her! I was ready to die for her. We have a son, God. After 15 years of searching for her, needing her, mourning for her, this is how you repay me? You let me find her dead? Can't you be nice to me and bring her back? Please, God?!" I knew that I was wishing for things that were impossible.

But God can do the impossible.

As I sat there, crying hysterically, I didn't notice her stomach start to rise and fall ever so slightly.

It was Peter who noticed it, "Dad!"

I lifted my head and looked at him, "What?"

I turned my head to Madeline just as her eyes fluttered opened.

"Chris..!" she said when she saw me, tears beginning to form in her eyes as a smile crossed her lips.

"Madeline!" I said and smiled too. I sat her up a bit and we kissed a passionate kiss that had waited 15 years to be exchanged between our lips. We struggled to control ourselves. I held her so tightly that I thought I might have crushed her had I tightened my arms a bit more.

Just as I was about to part her lips with my tongue, Peter coughed awkwardly. I had totally forgotten that he was there. "I'm, um, sorry to interrupt your, uh, moment here, but I believe I deserve a hug, mother."

She smiled, "Peter." She tried to stand up, but her legs gave out as soon as she got to her feet. I caught her. "Why don't you come to me, Peter?" she giggled.

Peter walked over to her and hugged her. "I-I thought I'd never see you again, mama," he said.

"I know, Peter. I don't know why I'm alive. Erik must have done something," Madeline said. He let go of her and gave her back to me. "So, I guess you've heard everything? You know that Peter's your son?"

I nodded, "But I'd rather hear the whole story from you."

She nodded. Then she started to shiver. "Chris… It's really cold-"

"No worries. Here," I took off my coat and wrapped her in it, "Now, let's get you home."

I carried her to the car and Peter followed. I got in and picked up my phone. I called the police station, "Hello? It's Christopher Chanatry. Listen, we found her and she's alive."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I'm SO sorry this is late. I have only had a few hours to write every day and this chapter ended up pretty long. Anyway, I love your reviews (even the not necessarily "good"ones). They encourage me to write more (hint hint). Thank you for reading, mon petite anges musiciens :)**

Chapter 14: Madeline's POV

Chris carried me up to his apartment. I told him that I didn't need to be carried, but he wouldn't listen. He said that since I was his wife, he was going to spoil me because most husbands either can't or won't do that. I couldn't help but smile a little; he hadn't changed one bit. He was still the most amazing husband a woman could ask for. He opened the door to his apartment, carried me to a couch, and put me down gently.

He sat down next to me and I laid my head on his shoulder. "Are you up to talking about what happened?"

I shrugged, "I guess so."

Right then, there was a hurried knock on the door. Chris stood up and sighed, "I'll bet you $10 that it's the police. They probably want to talk to you. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

I shrugged again, "I should be. Who knows what will happen."

He began to walk to the door, but stopped before opening it. "If it upsets you too much, I'll make them leave."

"If that's how I react, please do."

He opened the door and a group of maybe five people filled the room. Chris was back by my side in an instant, his arms around me, comforting me. The people began to ask me many questions. "Who was he? What did he look like? Where is he? What did he do to you? Did he hurt you? Can you tell us exactly what happened? How did you survive? How did you raise Peter? Did you try to escape? Did you see anyone else?" etc. etc. etc.

They were asking the questions so quickly that I couldn't comprehend or answer one question before another was asked. I began to feel extremely overwhelmed. The questions also brought back horrible memories. I began to get upset, even though I did not want to. I looked at Chris, trying so hard not to let my tears slip down my cheeks. I couldn't fight it back much longer.

Chris noticed how upset I was a moment too late. I threw my arms around him and started sobbing into his shoulder. "Make them go away, please, Chris," I pleaded between sobs.

The people continued to talk, oblivious to me. Chris' ears turned red as he became angry with the officers. "EXCUSE ME!" he shouted, "Can't you see that you're upsetting Madeline? She has been through a lot! You're overwhelming her with your questions. I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Now."

The group of people stared at him for a moment, a bit surprised at the anger and frustration in his tone, but they apologized and left the apartment calmly and quickly. Chris closed the door behind them. "I'm sorry for being so angry in front of you, Madeline. I just can't believe they upset you and were so inconsiderate of your feelings!"

I nodded and sniffled, "It's alright, Chris."

He sat down and pulled me into a tight embrace, "No, it's not. I shouldn't lose my temper around you and Peter."

"Chris, you were just trying to help me. The officers are the ones who are in the wrong, but they have apologized and I have forgiven them."

He nodded, "I suppose if it's not bothering you, then it shouldn't be a big deal. Now, if they tell the press that you're alive, I'm going to be furious.

"Why?"

"Because, first of all, we haven't contacted the rest of your family. Second of all, once the press find out, we will never be able to rest."

I had forgotten about the rest of my family. "Oh my God, Chris, we need to call my parents!"

He nodded and pulled out his cell phone, "I'll talk to them first and then you can… and maybe we can throw Peter in there if he wants to." I smiled and he dialed the number, "Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Keegan..? Yes, I'm fine. Listen, this is big, so you might want to sit down… Okay, we found her. We found Madeline and she's alive." I could hear shouts of excitement on the other end. Chris smiled, "She's sitting right here, if you want to talk to her… Okay, let me put the phone on speaker."

Chris put the phone on speaker and I smiled giddily. "Hi, mom and dad."

"Madeline! Madeline is that really you?" my mother asked in disbelief.

"Yes, mom; I'm here and I've really missed you," I said.

"We're so glad to hear your voice again. Are you alright?" my dad asked.

"Not really, but I'll be alright soon enough," I responded truthfully.

"What happened, Madeline? Who do I need to kill?" my mom said. I could hear her choking on sobs of gladness.

"I'll talk about that when I get home. What matters right now is that I'm alive and I'm talking to you right now."

I talked to them for a long time before I finally got tired and had to say goodbye. When I was done, I looked over to Peter, who had been sitting in a chair quietly since we got to the apartment, and noticed that he had fallen asleep.

I smiled and looked at Chris. I pointed at Peter, "I guess that's our cue to go to bed."

Chris chuckled and nodded. He scooped me up and carried me to his bedroom and set me down on the bed. He began to rummage through his clothes, "I'm assuming you want to change out of that itchy bed sheet that you call a "night gown", right?"

I nodded, "Yes, please! I haven't worn real clothes in years. I feel like a time-traveler!"

Chris laughed and threw one of his t-shirts to me. "I'm guessing this will be alright for you, considering that you are _much_ tinier than me now. Even if it's not long enough, I'm the only one who will see you in it. I'll go put blankets and pillows on the couch for Peter while you change, alright?"

I smiled and nodded, "Alright." He left the room and I stood up and slipped out of the old night gown. I threw it, not caring where it landed. I wanted to burn it so that I wouldn't be reminded of the last 15 years. I changed into the shirt that Chris had given to me. The shirt came down to a little bit above mid-thigh on me and it hung loosely off of my body. I walked over to the window and looked out. Chris certainly must have paid good money for this apartment; it had a beautiful view of Paris. I could see the Eiffel tower watching over the city. I smiled as I reminisced over the last time I had been there. That honestly was the greatest day of my life, though my happiest moments ended all too soon the next day. Nobody would ever have to tell me not to sneak into a dark old dressing room again!

Soon, Chris entered the room. He walked over to me quietly and tightly enlaced my waist with his arms. "I guess I don't surprise you anymore," he said.

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"You didn't jump when I wrapped my arms around you this time."

"That doesn't mean you didn't surprise me. I just heard you come into the room and I knew you would want to hold me eventually. I wasn't expecting you to hold me right now, though."

"So do I surprise you or not?"

"You always have and always will. It's a good thing that I love surprises. They're just so spontaneous," I said, slightly chuckling afterwards.

He turned me around to face him. His lips were mere centimeters away from meeting mine. "Tell me, is this spontaneous enough for you?" he half-whispered. He quickly moved one hand to the small of my back and the other to the opposite side of my waist. He pressed his lips passionately against mine. I snaked my arms around his neck. He was holding me so tightly that, if I didn't want him to kiss me, I wouldn't be able to escape from his hold. His hold on me was firm, and yet gentle. I had missed the way he kissed me. I cherished the kiss and moaned slightly against his lips.

**_(Warning: sexual scene ahead)_**

I deepened the kiss and leaned closer into him. I could sense him trying to control himself, but it wasn't long before I felt his manhood harden in desire for me. I trailed my hand down his chest and to his groin. I caressed the hard lump that was confined to his pants… and it drove him insane. His manhood became even harder at my touch. He moaned against my lips and lifted me up a little. He was so hungry for me. I wanted him as much as he wanted me. I wrapped my legs around his hips and he carried me to the bed and laid me down.

"I've missed this," he murmured.

"Me too," I whispered back.

We went to work on removing each other's clothes. He had the easiest job since I was wearing much less than him. When we were naked with each other, he began to trail kisses down my body, letting his tongue drag over the places he loved the most. I moaned when he bit down occasionally, leaving love bites. He moved his lips to my neck and began to trace little patterns on my body.

"You know," he murmured, "I never moved on to any other women after you… I never went out on a single date or kissed anyone else."

"You could have," I mumbled back.

"But I didn't. I was afraid that if you came back and I was with another woman, it would break your heart and you wouldn't come back to me."

"That's very sweet and I'm very proud that you did that, but Chris?"

"What?"

"Just shut up and make love to me."

I could feel him smirk against my neck. I knew he wasn't going to let me win that easily. He moved his hand to my most private of places and teased me with his fingers. My breath hitched in my throat as he pumped his fingers in and out of me. I moaned loudly, "Not fair, Chris. Stop."

He smiled and gave a fake sigh, "As you wish."

He entered into me slowly at first and I moaned in delight. It was so much different from our wedding night. We were so young and didn't really know what to do, but now each of us knew just what to do to create the desired effect on the other person.

Soon he started to thrust into me at a quicker pace. It caused me to want him to go faster and harder. I screamed my request into his shoulder, trying to muffle the sound so that Peter wouldn't wake up, and he obeyed. Throughout the night we screamed and shouted each other's names in passion and desire. We quickly forgot about Peter sleeping in the next room, and thankfully he didn't wake up.

**_(Sexual scene = over)_**

We finished when we both were on the brink of sleep, at the point where reality fades into dreams. I was lying close to him with my head resting in his shoulder and one of my arms spread across his bare chest. Before I could fall into sleep's open arms, I murmured, "I love you, Chris."

"I love you more, Madeline,"

"Impossible."

"Really?"

I yawned a short yawn. "Considering there's no real way to measure love, we may never know; but I think so."

"Well, I think you're wrong," he said yawning. "I also think we're both too tired to continue this conversation. Goodnight, my love," he said kissing my forehead.

I smiled and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Goodnight, my darling, sweet husband."

He smiled and we both succumbed to a dreamless sleep.

-oOoOo-

When I awoke, Chris and I were still in the same position we had fallen asleep in, but Chris had his smart phone in his hand and was looking at something on it. I snuggled a bit closer to him to let him know that I was awake without saying anything.

He looked at me and smiled, "Good morning, sweetheart."

I returned the smile, "Good morning, hubby."

He gave me a short, sweet "good morning" kiss and resumed looking at something on his phone. "What are you looking at?" I asked.

"I'm trying to find plane tickets and a hotel for the three of us. I want to get back to New York as soon as possible. Want to help?" he said.

I nodded and he turned the screen so that I could see it better. "Damn, the hotels are expensive," I said.

He chuckled, "Welcome to New York City, honey."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, come on, I mean they have gotten even _more_ expensive in the past 15 years."

"It wouldn't be so expensive if we didn't need a room so quickly."

"When exactly are you planning on us leaving?"

"Any time in the next three days would be great."

"Wow. You're just going to leave your job and the apartment in a matter of days?"

"My job and this apartment are in high demand. There will be a replacement for me soon enough; and I'm sure somebody will buy this apartment very quickly; especially if I sell it fully furnished."

I shrugged, "Well, I guess we _can_ leave in a few days then."

"_And,_ since you and Peter are in need of some new clothes, I'm taking you two shopping today."

I smiled. "Wow, thank you! I suppose you're going to take us to a big breakfast too?" I said jokingly.

"If you want to," he said seriously.

"I don't know. A good breakfast would be nice, but I don't think I would be able to eat a lot."

"We'll just eat here and then we can go to lunch after shopping then."

I smiled, "Sounds like a plan."

"Now back to travel plans… Here's a flight that leaves the day after tomorrow. Does that sound good to you?" he asked.

I smiled and nodded, "As long as I'm with you, anything sounds perfect."

He smiled and blushed a little, "The same with me when I'm with you… Perfect, here's a vacancy at the Sheraton; two connecting bedrooms."

"Ooh, the Sheraton is nice! That's the one right off of times square, across from Rosie O'Grady's, right?"

"Yep, that's the one… There, now we've booked it."

"Awesome! Everything's set, now."

"Then we should get to the rest of today's plans."

I nodded and we both reluctantly got out of bed. He dressed quickly and went to the bathroom and I put the t-shirt and my undergarments on since I had nothing else to wear. I looked around for the old night gown so that I could put it away somewhere, but it was nowhere to be found! I finally looked in a corner of the room and found something, though it wasn't the night gown, which made me gasp.

_It was my purse._

I couldn't believe that something I hadn't seen in years had just shown up before my very eyes. Erik had definitely been here and probably put the purse where my night gown had landed. I picked it up and hid it away so that Chris wouldn't ask any questions. I just wanted to forget that the past years had ever happened. I quickly opened the door to the living room to make sure Peter was still there and Erik hadn't taken him away. I sighed in relief when I saw that he was still there, asleep on the couch. I closed the door again and wondered if Chris had anything else that I could wear since I was very cold and I felt immodest in the t-shirt. He came out of the bathroom soon.

"Chris, do you have anything else that I could possibly wear? I'm very cold," I said.

He thought for a moment. "I might have something if it wasn't lost the last time that I moved," he said. He walked over to his closet and opened it. He rummaged around through boxes on the floor before finally pulling out a box that had "Madeline's stuff" written on the side of it. He put the box on the bed next to me. "This might have some clothes in it. Your parents and Katie took most of the stuff that was in your suitcase and what was left was put in this box and given to me."

I opened the box and looked inside. I saw many pairs of underwear, one top, two pairs of pants, a pair of shoes, my "wedding dress", plus all my toiletries, makeup, and my camera. I smiled, "This should be enough for today." I pulled out the top and one pair of pants and changed into them while Chris went into the kitchen and started making breakfast.

When I came out, Peter was already sitting at the kitchen table, talking to Chris.

"So, uh, how did you and my mom meet?" Peter asked.

"He literally bumped into me and spilled coffee all over my shirt," I answered for Chris.

Chris chuckled, "I tried to get rid of her, but she grew on me like an annoying fungus."

I punched his arm playfully and smiled, "That is _not_ what happened. You loved me from the first moment you laid eyes on me and you know it."

"Alright, alright, you're right, but I did try to get rid of you because I _knew_ I was in love with you. I didn't want to risk heartbreak. And if I remember correctly, _you_ had a boyfriend at the time."

I cringed at the bad memories from that relationship, "Ugh, _Jason_. He was the worst man ever. He deserved what happened to him."

The three of us talked until breakfast was ready. Chris served us eggs and toast.

Peter really liked the eggs. When he was done, he said, "The eggs were really good, dad. You're really good at making them."

"That's not all he's good at making," I thought mischievously to myself as I picked at my food.

"What else, mother?" Peter asked innocently.

OH NO! I said that out loud?! My face turned bright red with embarrassment. Chris was blushing and looking down, trying so hard not to laugh. "Um, pancakes. He's good at making pancakes," I stuttered.

"Oh," Peter said and excused himself to the restroom.

When he was gone, Chris and I busted out laughing. "Oh my… I didn't think I… said that out loud..!" I said between laughs.

"I take it that you enjoyed last night then?" he asked.

"Always," I said.

He blushed a little and then started to clear the table. I stood up and helped him finishing cleaning up. He playfully slapped my butt when my back was turned to him and I giggled slightly. We washed the dishes together after he turned the TV on for Peter.

"Mom, dad, I think you might need to see this," Peter said pointing to the screen.

Chris and I turned or attention to the television screen in the living room. "Madeline Rose Keegan Chanatry was finally found last night by her husband Christopher Asher Chanatry," the woman on the screen began, "Mrs. Chanatry went missing nearly fifteen years ago in the Garnier Opera House. Police say Madeline would not answer their questions, but what they do know is that she was pregnant when kidnapped and now has a son named Peter…" the woman continued giving more facts about my disappearance as pictures of Chris and I flashed across the screen and I kicked myself for forgetting to tell my parents about Peter.

"Shit, this is what I was afraid of," he mumbled under his breath.

"I'm more concerned that my parents are going to freak out since I _forgot_ to tell them about Peter!" I exclaimed, rubbing my temples in stress.

As if on cue, Chris' phone rang, "Guess who," he said before answering the phone. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Keegan... Yes, she's right here. She thought that you might call… Aright, here she is," he said, handing the phone to me.

"Hello, mom and dad," I started after I took a deep breath.

"Madeline, did you forget to tell us something last night?" my mom asked in a knowing tone.

I sighed. "Yes, I'm sorry."

"Well, go ahead and tell us."

"Chris and I, well, made a baby the night before I disappeared. I swear on my life we did not do it before the wedding and I was not raped before I found out," I said quietly.

I heard my mother sigh, "Alright, I'm glad you told us."

"I swear I forgot last night. I was not trying to hide it from you."

"I understand. I just hated hearing it from the news channel first."

"I'm sorry, mom… But congratulations, you have a grandson! You and dad will love him; I know you will."

My mom laughed, "I'm sure we will. Bye, sweetheart."

"Bye, mom," I said and hung up. "Well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," I said as I gave the phone back to Chris.

"I couldn't have handled it better myself. Now, are you ready to go?"

I nodded, "Just let me get my shoes on."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Another long chapter. I will get you some Christine/Erik stuff in the next chapter, lovelies. This is probably the last I'll write about Madeline until the Epilogue. I'm sorry if you find this chapter boring. This is my very first original phanfic and it's basically experimental; to see if I'm good at this "writing" stuff lol.**

Chapter 15: Madeline's POV

Shopping was a blast for me, but a bit strange and rather boring to Peter since he had never been shopping before. Chris helped with Peter's shopping and let me go by myself after we agreed to meet at a certain spot at 11:45.

I bought only what I needed though I was very tempted to buy a beautiful necklace that I saw, but it was _way_ too expensive. I sighed and continued shopping.

I was done just in time to get back to the meeting spot.

"Did you find everything you need?" Chris asked.

I smiled, "Yes. How did Peter's shopping trip go?"

"It was horrible," Peter said.

"It was not! We found some nice stuff," Chris said.

"I didn't say we weren't successful, I meant that I did not enjoy it," Peter said.

I laughed, "Well, if nothing else, you had some nice father-son bonding time."

Chris took my stuff and paid for it. When he returned he said, "I have a surprise for you."

"Really? What is it?" I asked curiously.

He pulled out a small box and handed it to me. I opened it and gasped. It was the necklace I had been looking at earlier! "Oh my God! Chris, how did you know what I wanted?"

"I saw you looking at it, of course. I figured that I have about 15 birthdays, valentine's days, Christmas', and anniversaries to make up for." Chris said, smiling.

"That's so sweet! Thank you, Chris," I said and kissed him lovingly.

"You're welcome," he said after the short kiss.

We carried the bags to the car and Chris drove us to a café for lunch. "I might have another surprise for you," he said.

"Oh, Chris, what is it this time?" I asked.

"You'll see, you'll see," he said with a wink.

We walked in and sat down in a booth. It wasn't long before I heard a familiar voice say, "Well, look who finally decided to show back up on the face on the planet!"

I looked in the direction of the voice I jumped up. "KATIE!" I yelled and ran up to her and hugged her.

She hugged me back and laughed, "Madeline, I'm so relieved that you're alright. I mean, seriously, you can't possible understand how relieved I am. You should have seen me when I heard the news; I was in tears on my knees praising God."

I laughed. "I'm just so happy to see you again," I said, walking with her to the booth.

Chris stood and politely shook her hand, "Hello, Katie. It's nice to see you."

Peter looked at her and then to me with a look that said 'aren't you going to introduce us?' I smiled, "Katie, this is my son, Peter."

She smiled at him, "Hello, Peter. I was your mom's best friend before she disappeared."

He smiled back. "Hi," he said shyly.

Chris sat in the seat next to Peter and Katie sat next to me. "So, what are you doing here in Paris?"

"The hub's job required him to be here for a few weeks. Coincidentally, you showed up," she said.

"You're married? That's great!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, and I have a little girl named after you and we just found out we're expecting our second child," she said smiling.

"Oh, congratulations! That's wonderful!" I exclaimed.

We spent the rest of lunch catching up and laughing. I had missed my best friend so much!

-oOoOo-

Two days later, we were at the airport. I remember laughing at Peter when he went through security because he was so bewildered and nervous in this strange place. He nearly slapped a TSA agent; on accident, of course.

We were walking to our gate when I saw somebody familiar. I slowed down a bit to get a better look at the person, to make sure I wasn't wrong. I was right.

It was Nadir.

But why was he here? Perhaps he wanted to say goodbye to me. We made eye-contact and smiled at each other. He gave me a thumbs-up and I chuckled a little to myself. "What's so funny?" Chris asked.

"Nothing. I just saw this guy dancing with his headphones in. We've passed him now, though," I said. He nodded and continued walking.

The flight was long; eight hours. I napped on Chris' shoulder most of the time, but Peter was too fascinated with the concept of flying to even blink. I remember waking up to Chris explaining how planes fly to Peter. Peter absorbed the information like a sponge. He was such a smart kid; always wanting to know more. I was pretty sure that he would want to be a scientist when he got older.

When we arrived in New York, it was only 10:00 am because of the time change, but it felt like 4 o'clock in the afternoon to Chris, Peter, and me. The cab ride to the hotel took nearly an hour because of the cursed New York traffic. When we got to the hotel, Peter discovered revolving doors and elevators. I couldn't wait until he saw Times Square. He would be so amazed by the city like everyone is on their first visit.

Peter went to his room while Chris and I spent some intimate moments with each other in our room before my parents arrived. My parents were so happy to see me that they started crying and almost didn't let me out of their hug. They were overjoyed to meet Peter and, as I had predicted, they loved him. I was smiling all day; everything was going to finally be alright.

-oOoOo-

It wasn't but a few months before Chris and I were expecting a baby; just one more thing that was perfect. When we found out he was so excited! He picked me up and danced around our room. Then he laid me down on the bed, lifted my shirt up, and planted kisses all over my stomach. We had moved into a real house by this time and Peter had just started school. Everything was wonderful, just absolutely perfect.

But perfect things never last forever.

I was about seven months pregnant when it happened. We were already almost completely ready for the baby, who was going to be a boy, although we still had 2 more months of waiting. We had agreed on naming him William Xavier Chantry.

I woke up in the middle up the night in a horrible ripping pain and bleeding. I started screaming; something was terribly wrong with the baby.

Chris woke up almost instantly, "Madeline, what's wrong?!"

"I don't know," I said through sobs, trying desperately not to scream more.

He saw the blood and jumped out of bed, "Oh no. Please, God, no," I heard him mumble.

Peter walked into the room right as Chris lifted me off of the bed. "What's going on," Peter asked, clearly alarmed.

"Not sure, but we need to get your mother to the hospital immediately," Chris said. I knew he was lying; he knew what was happening, but he didn't want to admit it or believe it.

Chris rushed me to the car and called the hospital to tell them about the emergency. He didn't ask for an ambulance because he said he could drive me to the hospital faster than an ambulance. Peter crawled into the back seat and tried to comfort me by holding my hand.

When we arrived at the hospital, a few nurses and doctors were waiting for us. Chris carried me all the way to the hospital room that was waiting. The rest of the time was a blur of pain and tears to me. I only half heard anything that was said to me. Chris held my hand the entire time and when I looked to him, he would try to give me a reassuring smile, but when he looked at the doctors his smile would fade into a frown.

It was all over in a few hours. I heard lots of hurried shouting and someone carrying a small lump of flesh that was swaddled in a blanket. The pain gradually subsided and after a few minutes, I asked, "What just happened?"

He was about to answer me when a doctor walked in with a sad expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Chanatry. Your son did not survive."

I stared at the doctor in disbelief. Tears were coming to my eyes, "What..?"

"I'm so sorry for this tragedy. We tried to do everything we could, and believe me, your son fought like a little warrior, but we couldn't save him. No one is to blame; these things just happen sometimes," the doctor said sincerely. Chris politely excused the doctor from the room.

I fell back onto my pillow and started sobbing uncontrollably. My baby was dead. Chris gently moved the hair out of my face. I looked up at him and saw that he was crying too, but his ears were red; he was angry. "Darling, are you mad at me for… for this?"

He shook his head, "No, my sweetheart. I'm not angry at anybody in particular… just mad about what happened… It's not your fault though, Madeline. You heard the doctor, these things just… they happen… Excuse me… I-I need a moment…" he said and left the room.

He walked to the hospital garden, which was right next to my room. I could see him through my window as he walked. He walked to the end of the garden and started punching and kicking the air, like he was beating up an invisible person who was responsible for our son's death. I knew he was probably cussing the "person" out too. He finally stopped and sulked over to a bench and sat down with his head in his hands. His shoulder's shook with sobs. I just laid in the hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling and crying. I heard the door open and close. I looked up and was shocked at who I saw.

It was Nadir.

I wondered why he was here, but I didn't ask. I sat up and let him hug me. I closed my eyes and just cried. Not a word was spoken. When I opened my eyes, he was gone and I was hugging my knees instead. I wondered if I had just imagined his presence, but I knew I hadn't. I glanced over at the window and saw Chris staring at me. I shook my head and brought my knees to my forehead. Soon, he entered the room and I felt his arms wrap around me. I leaned back against his chest and we cried together. I wanted to scream. I wanted to punch something. I wanted to make somebody to pay for my lost child. But I wouldn't do any of these things

We were able to leave soon. I didn't know if Peter knew what happened or not, but either way, he didn't ask any questions. I guess he figured out what happened when we left childless. The entire ride home was spent in silence, and that's how I wanted it to be. When we got home, I went to bed and lied down, burying myself in several layers of blankets. The tighter I wrapped myself in the warm blankets, the farther away from reality I felt. _"Sunday, April 17__th__: my baby boy, William Xavier Chanatry, died," _I thought to myself.

Chris must have contacted my parents because they were at the house in less than an hour. They quickly got the message that I didn't want to speak to anyone. They hugged me and did everything they could to comfort me. I thanked them before they left, even though I didn't feel any better. After they left, I napped the entire day; at least in sleep, I didn't have to face the cruel reality of this world. Chris came to bed when it was late. "I'm sorry that this happened. I'm sorry that this has left you so emotionally distraught," he said, kissing away the tears that would never leave my eyes.

I nodded, "I'm sorry that it made you angry. I feel like I've failed as your wife."

"You can never fail as my wife. As long as you love me, then you're perfect."

"I'll always love you, I swear."

"Then you'll never fail," he said and kissed me.

I laid my head against his chest, "I don't know what I'd do without you." He wrapped his arms around me and we fell asleep.

My mother came over to the house every day for a solid week to do the chores and take care of me while Chris was at work and Peter was at school. Day after day I would lie on the couch in my misery. She took care of me like I was a sick little girl again; always coaxing me to eat at meal times and bringing me new tissues when I needed them. Sometimes she would put a pillow on her lap and I would rest my head there and she would play with my hair.

One day, I decided to talk to her about how I felt. "I just feel like I did something wrong; that it's my fault that the baby died," I said to her abruptly.

She nodded, "I can't possibly imagine how terrible you must feel, Madeline, but you need to remember that these things just happen-"

"I'm sick and tired of hearing people say that!" I exclaimed, "I get it; these things happen sometimes, but why do they happen? There has to be a reason. Am I just not fit to be a mother again?!"

"Madeline, we don't know why this happens. It just really, really sucks. I'm sure you would be the perfect mother, Madeline. You already are to Peter. Mothers all around the world wished they loved their children as much as you love Peter after they heard your story. You have to understand, though, that it happened and nobody could stop it or justify it. It's just tragic and it pains Chris, Peter, and I to see you go through this."

I sighed, "I guess you're right. I just feel like there's something I need to do or should have done for the baby."

"You know," she started, "If William was here and was able to talk, I'm sure he would want you to move on with your life. Maybe he would even tell you to try to have another baby soon."

"I want to move on, mother. But it's hard. Everything I see or do reminds me of what happened. I can't get it out of my head no matter how badly I want to."

"I know. Every woman I've talked to that has gone through this said the same thing. But you know what? They also said that it will get better with time."

I took her words to heart and thought about them often.

By the end of the week, I didn't need my mother's help anymore. I could do everything I needed to do, but I was an emotional wreck. I once dropped a pan while trying to cook dinner and it sent me into hysterics. Chris tried to comfort me and ordered pizza instead. I tried to pull myself together for him, but it was hard, even over something as silly as dropping a pan.

Eventually, I don't know when, I was put on depression pills. They took away the sadness and left me feeling numb and empty inside. They couldn't give me happiness. Whenever Chris kissed me, I rarely felt a little spark of love and desire like I used to, and when he touched me intimately, I felt nothing, though I never let him know that.

Days passed like minutes and weeks passed like hours. Eventually, we had to box up everything in William's room, except for the teddy bear; I wouldn't part with the teddy bear. I felt a strange comfort in being in his room, staring out the large window in the midst of light blue walls. When I had time and was alone, I would sit on the floor in front of the window and cradle the teddy bear and sing lullabies, pretending it was my little baby boy. If anyone saw, they would think that I was insane, but nobody saw me, not even Chris. Or so I thought…

I woke up in the middle of the night one night and Chris wasn't next to me. I got up and walked around, looking for him. Soon, I found him in the baby's room, sitting on the floor, facing the large window, cradling the teddy bear just like I did.

"…Madeline does this and it seems to help her cope sometimes, so I figured that I should try it," he said to the bear. He sighed, "Good God, look at me; I'm talking to a stuffed animal. I hope this works and I'm not doing this in vain."

He began to sing lullabies in his rich, baritone voice. He had such a great voice. I used to tell him he should study music, but he always said that it wasn't the life for him. He was singing "Rock a Bye Baby". Absentmindedly, forgetting that he was embarrassed by this, I started to sing along.

"Madeline… I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"No, Chris; it's alright. If this helps you, I want you to do it. Can I join?" I asked.

"Of course," he said.

He handed the teddy bear to me and I sat in his lap. He held me and I held the bear. We began to sing again. At the end of the lullaby, we were both in tears, clutching to each other for comfort. I had let go of the bear and had wrapped my arms and legs around him, my back to the window.

"Madeline..?" Chris said shakily.

"Yes?" I said, choking back a sob.

"I feel like I've failed you."

"You haven't, Chris."

"But I feel like I have. I hate seeing you so unhappy all of the time and I feel like I should be making you happy, but somehow I'm not trying hard enough."

"You're trying as hard as you can and it's great, but these pills keep me from feeling any emotion except emptiness and numbness. I feel like it's just masking my emotions so that I don't know any clear feelings. I don't even know if I hate it or if I like it."

"I know that feeling too well. If that's how you feel, I think you should stop taking the medication. It's better to feel sadness and grief than nothing at all, trust me."

We talked about how we felt for almost two hours before we became tired and went to bed. I felt so relaxed and free when I went to bed, like a huge weight had been lifted off of my soul. I felt something that I had wanted to feel for a long time, but didn't know how to get it; I felt closure. The wounds had been healed and I was set free. I stopped taking medication, but instead of feeling overwhelming sadness and grief, I felt happy. I didn't feel the need to go into William's room again. When Chris kissed me or touched me or even sat next to me, I finally felt love. I never felt the need to cry at random times like I used to.

Tomorrow had come and so had the sun.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Erik's POV

Just as Christine had promised, she stayed with me and never dared to leave. We filled our days with music. It was lovely to hear her voice again after so many years. I only had to retrain her voice a little to restore it to its former glory. Little by little, I let myself grow more forward with her in intimacy, though I was still quite cautious. I had never forgiven myself for being so uncivil with Madeline and I had vowed to never subject anyone to that again.

One night, we were sitting on the couch in the Louis-Philippe room and she was reading a book while I sat near her in silence. I studied her like a fine painting, taking in every detail of her magnificent beauty; her chestnut colored curls, her dainty nose, her soft and pale pink rose petal lips, her diamond shaped face that pointed her chin, her long neck, her gentle curve from her bosom to her hips, what I could see of her slender legs, down to her small, arched feet. She was the one perfect picture of beauty that God had created. No one could ever match her inch for inch, detail for detail.

I had the urge to touch her; to make sure that she was real and that I wasn't in a dream. I searched for a place where I could touch her without disturbing her reading. Her back was arched ever so slightly at her waist, forming a gap between her and the couch just wide enough for me to slide my hand through. It was right at her waist, the center of her smooth and enticing curves, the place that I wished to feel the most. I carefully moved my hand through the gap and she actually moved forward a bit so that my arm could fit around her waist. I let my hand rest right at the narrowest part at her waist. I moved my other hand shakily to the other side of her waist to feel the exact width of it. I felt her body tighten beneath my hands. Afraid that I was being too bold for her taste, I said, "If you would like me to remove my hands, I swear I will."

"No, Erik, I'm fine. You may touch me whenever you wish to," she said.

My heart leapt; not only was she allowing me to touch her now, she was giving me permission to do so in the future. It caused me to want to touch other places on her body. Absentmindedly, not giving hardly any thought to the action, I slowly moved the hand closest to me down past her hip and down to her leg. I could feel her upper thigh beneath my wandering hand. I looked at her and saw that her eyes were closed and she was practically swooning at my touch. "Erik… Erik… Erik…" she muttered breathlessly. _Stop yourself, Erik. You're losing control of yourself,_ my conscious said to me and I tried, I really tried, but I just couldn't pull myself away. I enjoyed her reaction in a way I hadn't experienced yet. I desired to do something I hadn't ever done to her before. I leaned in closer to her face until I could feel her breath. I breathed in a little and then pressed my lips against hers in a passionate kiss.

I heard her book hit the floor with a _thud_ and she threw her now free arms around my neck and she kissed me back. She leaned her body towards mine and she… she crawled into my lap. My hands moved up to tangle themselves in her curls as I moved my lips to her neck. Desire surged within me and my conscious screamed one last time,_ DON'T YOU EVEN DARE TRY IT! _

I leaned Christine's body backwards onto the couch, my lips still tasting her neck. Her back fell onto the soft cushions and her hands scrambled to undo the buttons of my shirt. My hands unlaced the back of her dress and then lifted her skirts. My hands traveled up her legs until I felt the top of her stockings. I froze and suddenly I saw Madeline beneath me, stiff with fear and tears in her eyes. Shame filled my soul and I got off of Christine. I started to button up my shirt and Christine sat up and gave me a confused look. "Aren't you going to… you know…?"

"No. As much as I want to, I can't disgrace you like that," I said.

"You're not disgracing me, Erik. I want you," she said.

"You made that quite apparent," I said.

"Then why can't you make love to me?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Because, goddammit, I forced myself upon Madeline and she never forgave me, nor did I forgive myself! Are you happy with that explanation, Christine?!"

She sat in silence for a moment. "That answer does not make me happy, but it satisfies my curiosity, yes."

I stood and walked away to my music room, wishing to lose myself in music.

**A/N: I'm sorry that I haven't updated all week. I had serious writer's block and decided to work on my other story. I'll try to update sooner next time, but this Erik/Christine stuff is hard to come up with sometimes.** **It encourages me to write more when you review, and lately there haven't been as many as usual. I'm not asking for great reviews if my story isn't great, I just want to know what you guys think at this point in the story. Anyway, thank you for reading my story thus far.**


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